We solve complex research, engineering, and analytical problems that present critical challenges to our nation. APL—the nation’s largest university affiliated research center—provides U.S. government agencies with deep expertise in specialized fields to support national priorities and technology development programs. We also serve as independent trusted technical agents to the government, providing continuity for highly complex, multigenerational technology development systems.
Our purpose is to make critical contributions to critical challenges. At APL, we feel it is our responsibility to try to solve these national challenges with the full measure of our dedication and expertise.
The Lab’s core values are unquestionable integrity, trusted service to the nation, world-class expertise, and game-changing impact—all in an environment that is collaborative, fulfilling (and even fun!).
APL’s purpose and core values guide our future, and it is no less than to create defining innovations that ensure our nation’s preeminence in the 21st century.
May 29, 2020
On the heels of a successful demonstration of its Reconnaissance Blind Chess competition at one of the largest gatherings of artificial intelligence researchers in the world, APL has launched another round of the game, designed to advance machine decision-making under uncertainty.
May 29, 2020
NASA may be best known for focusing on what’s beyond Earth’s atmosphere, but the agency also has another role — searching for human life on our home planet, especially when those lives are in danger.
May 28, 2020
Teresa Wilburn, a group office administrator at APL and a registered nurse, just completed a three-week volunteer stint with Maryland Responds.
May 19, 2020
On May 15, the primary spacecraft structure for NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) arrived at APL in Laurel, Maryland. Now equipped with its chemical and electrical propulsion systems — installed at Aerojet Rocketdyne in Redmond, Washington — the spacecraft will remain at APL through final assembly and prelaunch testing.
May 7, 2020
The APL team managing NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission has been recognized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) with the von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management.
May 7, 2020
Leonard Moss Jr. has been named chief security officer and head of the Security Services Department at APL.
May 5, 2020
In APL’s first exoplanet study, researchers found something strange happening in the atmosphere of a planet almost 800 light-years away, and it’s left scientists scratching their heads.
April 28, 2020
Four APL projects, including the work of teams of staff members from across the Laboratory, have been recognized as finalists for Fast Company magazine’s 2020 World Changing Ideas.
April 24, 2020
Dozens of high school technology students joined Johns Hopkins APL in an outreach program that offered them the opportunity to build parts for the SUNRISE 3 mission, one of NASA’s balloon programs.
April 20, 2020
A new APL-led analysis of data fortuitously collected by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft reveals Venus’ atmosphere is not the equally stirred soup of gases that researchers had long believed, painting a new picture of the planet’s atmosphere that came only because of multiple strokes of luck.
April 20, 2020
A new study including Johns Hopkins APL scientist Kathleen Mandt shows interstellar comet Borisov is rich in carbon monoxide gas relative to water vapor, a probable characteristic if the comet came from a red dwarf star.
April 15, 2020
APL is hosting a virtual event to bring together federal government, Department of Defense, academia and industry health officials to explore the role of artificial intelligence in real-world health care settings. Experts will discuss scenarios, case studies and the challenges of operationalizing AI, including those associated with responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
April 15, 2020
Two concepts solidified in a design thinking workshop led by APL are now the focus of a cross-university effort to prototype ventilation approaches and address the projected shortfall during an anticipated surge of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
