![A TNO staff member inspects one of the freeform mirrors of the Sentinel-5P instrument, launched in 2017. Freeform optics is an innovative manufacturing method that designs lenses and mirrors so they can bend light in ways traditional geometries cannot. TNO will be contributing freeform optics for CHAPS, a groundbreaking instrument that will monitor pollutants in the atmosphere at an unparalleled scale. Credit: TNO](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210420_image3_med.jpeg)
Press Release
Apr 20, 2021
Johns Hopkins APL, TNO Sign Memorandum of Understanding on Collaborative Research and Technology Development
APL and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) have signed a memorandum of understanding, formalizing a collaborative relationship between the nonprofit organizations.
![NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft pointed its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager in the direction of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, whose location is marked with the yellow circle.](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210416_image1_med.jpg)
News
Apr 16, 2021
New Horizons Reaches a Rare Space Milestone
NASA’s New Horizons is reaching a rare deep-space milepost — 50 astronomical units from the Sun, or 50 times farther from the Sun than Earth is. The Johns Hopkins APL-operated New Horizons is just the fifth spacecraft to reach this great distance, following the legendary Voyagers 1 and 2 and Pioneers 10 and 11.
![Illustration of NASA's Parker Solar Probe, operated by Johns Hopkins APL](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210415_image1_med.jpg)
News
Apr 15, 2021
Parker Solar Probe Captures First Complete View of Venus Orbital Dust Ring
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe captured the first complete view of Venus’ dust ring, a band of particles that stretches for the entirety of the planet’s path around the Sun.
![Underwater Adhesive](/sites/default/files/2023-01/Cover_Underwater_Adhesive.jpg)
News
Apr 14, 2021
Super Sticky: Johns Hopkins APL Creates Strong, Fast, Waterproof Adhesive
An APL team created a rapidly curing underwater adhesive that is effective on a range of surfaces, including aluminum, stainless steel, glass and plastic. The adhesive performed best on untreated aluminum surfaces with a high bonding strength of approximately 400 pounds in 60 seconds.
![Bradley speaks over Zoom with his mentor, Hannah Kowpak](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210413_image1_med.jpg)
News
Apr 13, 2021
Johns Hopkins APL Staff Members Step Up to Mentor Students with Special Needs
Learning to become independent sometimes means asking for help.
![Artist’s impression of the Europa Clipper](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210408_image1_med.jpg)
News
Apr 8, 2021
Europa Clipper Builds Hardware, Moves Toward Assembly
NASA's Europa Clipper mission has passed a significant milestone, completing its Critical Design Review. Being developed by Johns Hopkins APL and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the mission can now start to assemble and test the spacecraft and its payload of sophisticated science instruments.
![As ACE nears the halfway mark of the program’s first phase, APL continues to enhance the virtual environment and AI algorithms to create more evolved dogfighting scenarios. In February, APL hosted the first follow-up scrimmage utilizing its more challenging AI algorithms and simulated sequences. In 2020, the focus was on 1-v-1 scenarios; this time, teams engaged in 2-v-1 fights. Credit: DARPA](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210408b_image1_med.jpeg)
Press Release
Apr 8, 2021
Johns Hopkins APL Bridges the Gap with Next Phase of DARPA’s ACE Program
After the success of last summer's AlphaDogfight Trials, when AI beat an experienced human F-16 fighter pilot in a simulated aerial battle, APL leads DARPA's ACE program to new milestones in the quest to forge greater trust in autonomous systems for air combat.
![NASA’s fully integrated James Webb Space Telescope](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210407_image1_lg.jpg)
Press Release
Apr 7, 2021
Johns Hopkins APL Researchers Will Play Leading Role in James Webb Space Telescope’s First Year
A dozen proposals submitted by researchers at APL have been selected for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s first year of operation, observing everything from asteroids in our solar system to exoplanets around the Milky Way galaxy.
![Drone operation](/sites/default/files/2023-01/20210402_image1_med.jpg)
News
Apr 2, 2021
Johns Hopkins Researchers Advancing Safety of AI and Autonomous Machines in Society
To advance the benefits and safety of the technology behind unmanned vehicles and the array of artificial intelligence programs automating our devices, offices, homes and community grids, the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy (IAA) has invested in a portfolio of 10 state-of-the-art research projects uniting researchers across Johns Hopkins University.
![This animation explains how the APL team applied two theoretical tools of quantum information to extremely sensitive signal detection tasks.](/sites/default/files/2023-01/Cover_Detecting_Hidden_Signals.jpg)
Press Release
Mar 25, 2021
Detecting Hidden Signals
In a new paper, a Johns Hopkins APL research team explained how they applied two theoretical tools of quantum information to extremely sensitive signal detection tasks. Their research suggests that honing this sensitivity to detect signals while rejecting background noise will enable the use of quantum detectors even when this surrounding noise is strong relative to the signal of interest.