News Releases

A NASA spacecraft’s third and final flyby of the planet Mercury gives scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet’s surface and provides new scientific findings about this relatively unknown planet.

In a paper published Oct. 15 in Science, researchers from The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) present a new view of the region of the sun’s influence, or heliosphere, and the forces that shape it.

This morning the 60-foot satellite communications dish at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., was trained on the moon — tracking the plunge of NASA’s water-searching Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) into the lunar surface.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Laurel, Md., has licensed a unique scanning technology capable of creating a color-accurate three-dimensional model and image of a small object with resolutions smaller than 1/12th the size of a grain of salt. These models and images can be used for forensic analysis, reverse engineering and quality control.

Software engineers at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md., in collaboration with JHU’s Center for Technology in Education, have developed a prototype Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to provide Baltimore County students with a gaming-like experience to augment existing math and science curriculums.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md., along with U.S. Congressional members, Howard County officials and representatives from the construction industry, broke ground, August 7, for what will be the Laboratory’s new Space Department building.

Both the current and upcoming versions of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense weapon system, used to detect, track and target missile threats, was put to the test in two same-day exercises conducted with APL’s assistance. The tests were conducted yesterday at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) off Kauai’s coastline in Hawaii.

Space weather researchers at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md., are helping expand a global radar network used to study electrical disturbances in our atmosphere that can create auroral displays or disrupt communications, knock out electrical power grids, damage satellites or even affect astronauts.

Maryland born-astronauts Ricky Arnold and Tom Jones and Sen. Barbara Mikulski are among those scheduled to speak at “A Salute to Maryland’s Place in Space,” on June 1 at the Maryland Science Center to help celebrate 50 years of space science and technological innovation in the state.

A “smart” polymer that automatically releases medicine into the bloodstream and a super-thin flexible microchip share the honor as The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory’s top invention for 2008.