![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Mar 21, 2012
MESSENGER Provides New Look at Mercury’s Landscape, Metallic Core, and Polar Shadows
MESSENGER completed its one-year primary mission on March 17. Since moving into orbit about Mercury a little over one year ago, the spacecraft has captured nearly 100,000 images and returned data that have revealed new information about the planet, including its topography, the structure of its core, and areas of permanent shadow at the poles that host the mysterious polar deposits.
![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Mar 19, 2012
MESSENGER Completes Primary Mission at Mercury, Settles in for Another Year
On March 17, 2012, MESSENGER successfully wrapped up a year-long campaign to perform the first complete reconnaissance of the geochemistry, geophysics, geologic history, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and plasma environment of the solar system's innermost planet.
![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Mar 8, 2012
MESSENGER Team Delivers Data From First Full Mercury Solar Day to Planetary Data System
Data collected during MESSENGER's third through sixth month in orbit around Mercury were released to the public today by the Planetary Data System (PDS), an organization that archives and distributes all of NASA's planetary mission data.
![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Mar 8, 2012
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory: 70 Years of Critical Contributions
On March 10, 2012, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) marks its 70th year of meeting critical national challenges through the innovative application of science and technology.
![Artist's impression of Solar Probe Plus, its solar panels folded into the shadows of its protective shield](/sites/default/files/2023-02/120305SPPObservingSun.jpg)
Press Release
Mar 5, 2012
NASA Solar Study Mission Moves to Next Design Stage
Two-thousand-degree temperatures, supersonic solar particles, intense radiation — all of this awaits NASA’s Solar Probe Plus during an unprecedented close-up study of the sun.
![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Mar 2, 2012
MESSENGER Modifies Orbit to Prepare for Extended Mission
MESSENGER successfully completed an orbit-correction maneuver this evening to lower its periapsis altitude - the lowest point of MESSENGER's orbit about Mercury relative to the planet's surface - from 405 to 200 kilometers (251 to 124 miles).
![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Feb 28, 2012
APL Hosts ‘Girl Power: Reach for the Sky’
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is hosting a free introduction to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for middle and high school girls on Sunday, March 11, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on APL’s Laurel, Md., campus.
![Danielle Hilliard](/sites/default/files/2023-02/Danielle_Hilliard.jpg)
Press Release
Feb 20, 2012
Black Engineers Honor APL’s Danielle Hilliard for Community Service
Danielle Hilliard of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., was awarded the Black Engineer of the Year Community Service Award at the organization’s STEM Global Competitiveness Conference on Feb. 18 in Philadelphia.
![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Feb 3, 2012
Software Enables Efficient Planning of MESSENGER Observations
SciBox, a scientific planning software package, has proven critical to the success of the MESSENGER mission to Mercury.
![](/themes/custom/jhu_apl/default_thumbnail.png)
Press Release
Feb 1, 2012
Applied Physics Lab Named One of Baltimore’s ‘Best Places to Work’
For the third year in a row, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., has been named to Baltimore magazine’s “Best Places to Work” list.