Programs
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| ACELaunch: 1997The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) is a NASA-supported Explorer mission built by APL. Launched in 1997, ACE is the only real-time space weather monitoring platform. |
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| Auroral Particles and ImageryLaunch: 1996The Auroral Particles and Imagery activities include OVATION, which aims to define the position of the auroral oval, OVATION Prime, a next-generation precipitation model, and SuperMAG, an international collaboration operating more than 300 magnetometers. |
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| Charge Composition Explorer on AMPTELaunch: 1984The Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers (AMPTE) program was a three-nation, three-spacecraft mission to study plasma phenomena in near-Earth space. The Charge Composition Explorer was one of the three spacecraft. Active experiments in the mission created an artificial comet to study the plasma interactions. |
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| CONTOURLaunch: 2002The COmet Nucleus TOUR (CONTOUR) spacecraft was launched in 2002 to study two very different comets, Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, as they make periodic visits to our inner solar system. |
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| CPME and EPE Instruments on IMP-8Launch: 1973IMP-8 is the last of 10 Interplanetary Monitoring Platforms (IMPs) that measured the magnetic fields, plasmas, and energetic charged particles of the Earth’s magnetotail and magnetosheath and of the near-Earth solar wind. |
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| CRISM Instrument on MROLaunch: 2005Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), a visible-infrared imaging spectrometer with scannable field of view flying aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is one of APL’s advanced instruments seeking traces of past and present water on the martian surface. |
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| Energetic Particle Detector on GalileoLaunch: 1989The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) instrument onboard the Galileo spacecraft measured the characteristics of energetic particles to determine the size, shape, and dynamics of Jupiter’s magnetosphere. |
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| EPIC instrument on GEOTAILLaunch: 1992The Energetic Particle and Ion Composition (EPIC) instrument measures the distribution functions of major ion species to increase our understanding of the outer magnetosphere and the overall dynamics of the geomagnetic tail. |
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| Europa Jupiter System MissionLaunch: 2020The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) is a joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) mission. The mission’s two spacecraft, NASA’s Jupiter Europa Orbiter and ESA’s Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter, will execute a choreographed exploration of the Jupiter System before settling into orbit around the Jovian moons Europa and Ganymede. |
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| Flare Genesis ExperimentLaunch: 2000The Flare Genesis Experiment is a balloon-borne solar observatory that aims to understand the origins of solar activity. The objective is to understand how the magnetic fields at the solar surface emerge, coalesce, unravel, and erupt in solar flares. |
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| FUSELaunch: 1999The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) astrophysics satellite/telescope examined the origins of the universe through high-resolution spectroscopy in the far ultraviolet. |
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| Global Assimilation of Information for ActionLaunch: N/A GAIA is an initiative at The Johns Hopkins University connecting decision-makers with the research community. GAIA's focus is on climate disruption and its effects on society. The key approach is building connections through a series of topical cyber-enabled workshops. These workshops feature a structure that brings together people from a wide range of disciplines to exchange ideas and information, to assess and prioritize needs, and to develop approaches to addressing those needs.
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| HI-SCALE on UlyssesLaunch: 1990Built by APL, HI-SCALE (Heliosphere Instrument for Spectrum, Composition, and Anisotropy at Low Energies) was part of the scientific payload of Ulysses. This instrument has provided a wealth of information about the energetic particles in the heliosphere. |
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| LECP Instrument on VoyagerLaunch: 1977APL’s Low Energy Charged Particle (LECP) experiment onboard Voyager 1 sensed the termination shock of the solar wind in December 2004. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are now exploring the solar wind in the inner heliosheath and heading toward the heliopause. |
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| Magnetic Field Experiment on FrejaLaunch: 1992Launched in 1992, Freja was designed to image the aurora and measure particles and fields in the upper ionosphere and lower magnetosphere. The mission continues the investigations begun by its predecessor, Viking. |
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| Magnetic Field Experiment on VikingLaunch: 1986APL’s Magnetic Field Experiment was launched onboard the Swedish satellite Viking in 1986. Sensor data from the fluxgate magnetometer provided insight into the Earth’s magnetic field. |
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| MESSENGERLaunch: 2004The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft is the first mission designed to orbit Mercury. The spacecraft completed its final Mercury flyby in 2009 and will enter Mercury orbit in March 2011 to carry out comprehensive measurements for one Earth year. |
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| MIMI on CassiniLaunch: 1997The Magnetospheric IMaging Instrument (MIMI) is an energetic particle detector onboard Cassini, a robotic spacecraft mission studying Saturn and its many natural satellites. The spacecraft launched in 1997 and entered into orbit around Saturn on June 30, 2004, after a long interplanetary voyage. |
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| Mini-RFLaunch: 2008The Mini-RF (Miniature Radio Frequency instrument) project consists of two radar instruments designed to map the lunar poles, search for water ice on the Moon, and demonstrate future communications technologies. |
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| NASA Lunar Science InstituteLaunch: 2009The NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) performs research for future lunar missions and to advance NASA’s exploration goals. APL is leading one of the investigations, “Scientific and Exploration Potential of the Lunar Poles.” |
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| NEAR ShoemakerLaunch: 1996Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker was a robotic space probe that conducted in-depth studies of the near-Earth asteroids 433-Eros and Mathilde. It was the first spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid. |
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| New HorizonsLaunch: 2006The New Horizons spacecraft is en route to the edge of our solar system and will be the first mission to investigate Pluto and its three moons. It will then extend its mission by studying objects in the Kuiper Belt region. |
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| Ocean Remote SensingLaunch: 1996APL examines the marine environment through the application of both radar and optical instrumentation. Research investigates the behavior and characteristics of our oceans with respect to their impact on civilian and national security operations. |
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| Robotic Lunar Lander Development ProjectLaunch: 2015The proposed International Lunar Network (ILN) will establish a network of robotic geophysical monitoring stations on the surface of the Moon in order to improve our understanding of lunar interior structure and composition. |
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| SO-SIS Instrument on Solar OrbiterLaunch: 2017The Solar Orbiter Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SO-SIS) instrument will fly aboard the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft on a mission to the Sun. The spacecraft is scheduled to provide coordinated observations with NASA’s Solar Probe Plus. The SO-SIS experiment will measure the intensity of particles ejected from the Sun. |
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| Solar Probe PlusLaunch: 2018Developed by APL for NASA, Solar Probe Plus is a daring mission to fly into the Sun’s corona. Scheduled to launch in 2018, the spacecraft will be the fastest man-made object to date while zipping through the Sun’s outer atmosphere. |
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| STEREOLaunch: 2006Built by APL, the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission consists of two space-based observatories that provide 3-D images of the Sun to study the nature of coronal mass ejections. |
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| SuperDARNLaunch: 1983The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is the National Science Foundation’s international radar network for studying the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The network has 11 high-frequency radars that measure the Doppler velocity of plasma density irregularities in the ionosphere. |
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| TIMEDLaunch: 1999Built and managed by APL for NASA, the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics, and Dynamics (TIMED) mission examines the influences on the least explored and least understood region of Earth’s atmosphere—the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere (MLTI). |
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| Van Allen ProbesLaunch: 2012The Van Allen Mission, part of NASA's Living With a Star program, provide unprecedented insight into the physical dynamics of the radiation belts and to give since of changes in this critical region of space. Launched August 30, 2012, the two spacecraft orbit the Earth to sample the harsh radiation belt environment where major space weather activity occurs and many spacecraft operate. The two spacecraft will measure the particles, magnetic and electric fields, and waves that fill geospace. Only with two spacecraft taking identical measurements and following the same path, can scientists begin to understand how the belts change in both space and time. |
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| Vector Magnetometer on UARSLaunch: 1991Measurements of the geomagnetic field were provided by the vector magnetometer (VMAG) component of the Particle Environment Monitor (PEM) instrument cluster. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) platform provides data on the perturbations within the Earth’s magnetic field. |
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