Applied Physics Laboratory

The Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University (abbr. APL, JHU / APL or JHUAPL ) is located in Laurel, Maryland. It is a university -level nonprofit research center with approximately 4,000 employees and serves the Department of Defense, NASA and other government agencies as a technical institute.

The APL is more of a research and development facility as a teaching Institute at Johns Hopkins University Represents the APL was founded in 1942 during the Second World War by the Office of Scientific Research and Development with the purpose to make the scientific and engineering knowledge within universities available. The most important development of this phase represented a time-varying proximity fuse, who played an important role in the victory of the Allies. Contrary to expectations, the APL did not dissolve, but was involved in the development of missile technology for the U.S. Navy. At the request of the Government, the University led the laboratory as a public body on.

The name of the Laboratory comes from its origins in World War II, but its main strength lies in the areas of systems engineering and technical applications.

More than half of the technical staff are engineers and 25 % have a degree in computer science or mathematics. The APL has programs in basic and applied research, experimental and advanced development, testing and system integration.

Between 1965 and 1990, the APL supported the Pershing missile program, with technical support and testing to improve the performance and service life.

The U.S. Navy continues to be the main client. The laboratory works for the Missile Defense Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, various intelligence agencies, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ), and other government agencies. It supports NASA by Space science, design and manufacture of space vehicles, and support of space missions. Other areas of work include air defense, anti-submarine safety, combat submarines, testing of strategic systems, information and display systems, sensors, information processing and space systems. APL has many satellites and spacecraft built and operated, including: the TRANSIT navigation system, NEAR, CONTOUR, MESSENGER, New Horizons and STEREO. The in planning space missions of APL include the Solar Probe .

The asteroid ( 132524 ) APL was named after a flyby of the New Horizons spacecraft in honor of APL.