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Applied physics laboratory

Dave Van Wie
Dave Van Wie named next Applied Physics Lab director
Published April 11, 2025
A leader in the defense research and development community who joined APL in 1983, he currently heads the lab's Air and Missile Defense Sector
The Parker Solar Probe floats in front of the sun, whose size takes up the rest of the image.
Space exploration
A record-setting flyby for Parker Solar Probe
Published Jan 2, 2025
NASA's record-setting spacecraft was just 3.8 million miles from the sun's surface—the closest any human-made object has ever come to a star
Ralph Semmel
Ralph Semmel to step down after 15 years leading APL
Published July 10, 2024
He will conclude his term as director in July 2025; search committee formed to help identify successor
Students on the DAVINCI+ team with their professor, who holds a phone so NASA engineers can participate via Zoom
Space science
Undergrads help NASA uncover the mysteries of Venus
Published April 8, 2024
Students are learning the ins and outs of the Venusian atmosphere and building a sensor for NASA's DAVINCI mission, thanks to the vision of APL planetary scientist Noam Izenberg and a small team of faculty experts
An illustration of the moon with text overlaid that reads "Exploration," "Dreams," "Ambition," "Hope," and "Innovation."
Space exploration
A bigger, bolder moon shot
Published Spring 2024
NASA's ambitious moon return involves plans to build a long-term human presence in the solar system / Johns Hopkins Magazine
Ed Reynolds
Awards+Honors
DART mission lead named to TIME100
Published April 13, 2023
Ed Reynolds, a program manager at APL, led a team of hundreds in successful demonstration of asteroid redirection technology
The curve of an exoplanet is illuminated by a distant star
Space exploration
JWST detects distant exoplanet
Published Jan 11, 2023
Using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, a team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins APL confirmed the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star roughly 41 light-years away
People celebrating
Planetary defense
Smashing success: DART alters asteroid's orbit
Published Oct 11, 2022
The history-making NASA mission, operated by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, shows potential for future missions to protect Earth from asteroids
A gray, rocky ball - the asteroid Dimorphos - is seen against the black backdrop in space in this image transmitted by NASA's DART spacecraft
Planetary defense
Bull's-eye! NASA's DART spacecraft slams into asteroid
Published Sept 26, 2022
Collision with asteroid Dimorphos demonstrates a mitigation technique that could be used in the future to deflect asteroids that pose a threat to Earth
An illustration of a spacecraft flying into an asteroid
Bracing for impact
DART spacecraft prepares for asteroid collision
Published Sept 14, 2022
The proof-of-concept mission managed by APL aims to demonstrate how a spacecraft can be used to deflect an asteroid that poses a threat to Earth, should one ever be discovered