Space Technology
Seeing Data in New and Powerful Ways
Since the dawn of the Space Age, APL has been deeply involved in data analysis and visualization. Our scientists have the analytical capabilities to support the entire life cycle of a mission.
From investigating a team’s proposed flight trajectories, to designing and testing its instruments, to analyzing the returned mission data, APL can support mission development from beginning to end. Applying a wide range of experience in visualization, software development and algorithmic analysis, APL researchers can extract valuable scientific information from the growing amounts of mission data to address key questions about our place in the cosmos, whether from the Sun, Pluto or beyond. And with expertise in software tools and development, our scientists can comprehend and visualize this data in new and powerful ways, including machine learning, cloud computing and virtual and augmented reality. These tools and skills were used to model the heliosphere using particle instruments on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe; to analyze and re-project images of Pluto captured by NASA’s New Horizons; and to develop 3D models with the APL-designed Small Body Mapping Tool, which enables detailed studies of asteroid surfaces and aided in selecting a touch-down spot for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission on the asteroid Bennu.
Expertise in Action
Missions
Dragonfly Outer Moons
DART Asteroids
Parker Solar Probe Sun and Solar Wind
IMAP Interstellar Medium
Europa Clipper Outer Moons
New Horizons Pluto, Kuiper Belt Objects, and Comets
NEAR Asteroids
MESSENGER Terrestrial Planets
TIMED Earth
Van Allen Probes Earth
The CAT Experiment Earth
The SKA Experiment Earth
STEREO Sun and Solar Wind
ACE Sun and Solar Wind
Balloon Programs Interstellar Medium
Earth’s Upper Atmosphere
Understanding the Ionosphere – Thermosphere – Mesosphere
At the gateway between Earth’s atmosphere and space are three critical regions: Earth’s mesosphere and thermosphere, which consist of neutral atoms and molecules, and the ionosphere, which carries ionized particles from the atmosphere.
This region, collectively called the ionosphere-thermosphere-mesosphere (ITM), is where the Sun’s energy first enters our atmosphere, and where the brilliant colors of the aurora shine. Through spacecraft observations and state-of-the-art computer models, APL scientists are striving to understand this important part of the atmosphere. APL built NASA’s TIMED spacecraft, which for more than 20 years has provided new insights into solar- and human-induced disturbances in the ITM. TIMED in part detailed how energy from the Sun is transformed in the upper atmosphere, altering the region’s composition, pressure, temperature and winds. New insights into space weather and its impact on society have come from these investigations, including effects on satellite orbits, ground-induced currents that affect the power grid, and radio wave propagation. And the lessons we learn on Earth can apply to the atmospheres and auroras of other planets.
Instruments
JEDI Giant Planets
CRISM Terrestrial Planets
DRACO Asteroids
DraGMet Outer Moons
DraGNS Outer Moons
EIS Outer Moons
EPAM Sun and Solar Wind
EPD-EIS Earth
EPI-Lo Sun and Solar Wind
GUVI Earth
IMAP-Ultra Interstellar Medium
JoEE/JENI Outer Moons
L’LORRI Asteroids
LECP Sun and Solar Wind
LORRI Pluto, Kuiper Belt Objects, and Comets
MEGANE Terrestrial Planets
Mini-RF Moon
MISE Outer Moons
PEPSSI Pluto, Kuiper Belt Objects, and Comets
PIMS Giant Planets
Psyche GRNS Asteroids
SIS Sun and Solar Wind
ULEIS Sun and Solar Wind
Science Snapshots and Data Tools
Science Snapshots
At APL, our space scientists and engineers strive every day to break new ground. Check out these snapshots of their innovative work, which are helping to inform policymakers, cut the costs of exploration, and push the boundaries of space and planetary science.
Data Tools
Understanding the universe requires assembling raw data into meaningful charts, maps, and more. To help our scientists — and other scientists and everyday people from all over the world — interpret the data returned by instruments both close to and far from Earth, APL develops tools capable of representing data in innovative ways.
Parker Solar Probe Team Wins 2024 Collier Trophy Mar 25, 2025
Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to the Sun Dec 27, 2024
A Star Explored — Parker Solar Probe’s Daring Dive to the Sun’s Fiery Edge Dec 9, 2024
NASA’s Sun-Bound Parker Solar Probe Swings Through Final Venus Flyby Nov 8, 2024
Liftoff! NASA’s Europa Clipper Blasts Off in Historic Mission to Jupiter’s Icy Ocean Moon Oct 14, 2024
