News Releases

Asteroids Ryugu and Bennu, two top-shaped asteroids with orbits around the Sun similar to Earth’s, may stem from the rupture of a single, common parent asteroid, according to a study published May 27 in Nature Communications.

APL and Purdue University have signed an agreement that will allow both institutions to harness one another’s capabilities and expertise in the field of hypersonics.

Making the list for the third consecutive year, APL held its No. 11 ranking among large organizations and is ranked second overall for both training and career development.

Nearly two decades ago, a near-Earth asteroid was discovered to have a moon and the binary system was given the name “Didymos” — Greek for “twin,” a loose description of the larger main body and the smaller orbiting moon, which became unofficially known as Didymos B.

Jennifer Cooper, a program scientist at APL, was recently selected to serve on the Executive Council of the Acoustical Society of America, the country’s main professional society for acoustics.

Using data from MESSENGER, researchers from Johns Hopkins APL and Durham University have demonstrated that the lifetime of a neutron can be measured from space.

The team at Johns Hopkins APL designing the gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer instrument for the Japan-led Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos passed its mission confirmation review on May 26, completing a critical milestone that now moves the instrument into its final design phase.

Andy Oak has been named mission area executive for Homeland Protection at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where he will direct efforts to create disruptive capabilities that safeguard and secure the nation against asymmetric threats.

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. APL staff members are working with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and its partners to upgrade NASA’s Search and Rescue system.

Last fall, more than 60 teams from around the world signed up for a competition developed by Johns Hopkins APL to advance machine decision-making under uncertainty.