Latest Applied Physics Laboratory Stories

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's innermost planet. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) "This mission will continue to revolutionize our understanding of Mercury during the coming year," said NASA Administrator Charles...

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 15, to discuss the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, or MESSENGER, will enter orbit at approximately 9 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 17. The spacecraft has conducted more than a dozen laps through the inner solar system for the past 6.6 years.Media teleconference participants are:-- Andy Calloway, MESSENGER mission operations manager, Johns Hopkins...

BLACKSBURG, Va., Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thomas M. McNamara Jr., formerly a program area manager of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, has been hired as president and chief executive officer of the newly established Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, announced Robert Walters, vice president for research at Virginia Tech. The Applied Research Corporation was established by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors in March 2010 with the mission to...

LAUREL, Md., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), with help from The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) and Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM), has successfully implemented a new space-based system to monitor Earth's space environment. Known as the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE), the system provides real-time magnetic field measurements using commercial satellites as part of a new...

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) engineers have completed all environmental and performance testing on the TacSat-4 COMMx payload. This completes the entire TacSat-4 spacecraft as the spacecraft bus was completed in May 2008. The launch date was fall 2009, however it was moved to August 2010 because of Minotaur-IV technical issues and changing DoD mission priorities.TacSat-4 is a Navy led joint mission to augment current satellite communications (SATCOM) capabilities and to advance...

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Nov. 3, to announce scientific findings and release new images from the third and final flyby of Mercury by the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, known as MESSENGER.The probe's cameras and instruments collected high-resolution and color images of the planet on Sept. 29, unveiling another six percent of Mercury's surface never before seen by a spacecraft.The briefing participants are:- Sean...

COLUMBIA, Md., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On September 29, NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, more commonly referred to as "MESSENGER," flew within 142 miles of Mercury's surface. This was the spacecraft's third and final flyby of the planet. Designed, built, managed, and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, MESSENGER is scheduled for a 2011 insertion into...

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to preview the third and final flyby of Mercury by the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft known as MESSENGER.On Sept. 29, the spacecraft will swing less than 142 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit around Mercury in March 2011. With more than 90 percent of the planet's surface imaged after the spacecraft's second...

ALPHARETTA, Ga., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- GS Yuasa Lithium Power (GYLP) today announced that The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) awarded it the contract to supply Lithium-ion cells for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission. Two satellites will be launched in fulfillment of the mission, each with primary objectives lasting two years and supplemental objectives potentially extending several years...

OKLAHOMA CITY, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- OrthoCare Innovations is pleased to announce the addition of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) researchers Stuart Harshbarger, in the role of Chief Scientific Officer, and Matthew Kozlowski Ph.D., as Director of Robotic Systems. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090603/DA26807) A member of the principal professional staff at APL, Mr. Harshbarger has served as program manager and systems supported integrator for over $100...