Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan has successfully passed its Critical Design Review (CDR). This key milestone confirms the mission’s design and plans for fabrication, integration, and testing are ready for implementation. https://jhuapl.link/6a3 Led by Johns Hopkins APL and supported by U.S. industry, government and academic partners, Dragonfly will be the first rotorcraft to explore the surface of another planetary body. Once on Titan, the rotorcraft will act as a flying chemistry lab, with cameras and other science instrumentation, to investigate prebiotic chemistry and complex organic molecules. Materials that, on Earth, are associated with the origins of life. With the CDR complete, the mission now transitions to the spacecraft construction phase. Dragonfly is scheduled to launch July 2028 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. APL manages the mission for NASA, with Zibi Turtle serving as the principal investigator. The team includes collaborators from multiple NASA centers, U.S. universities, international partners, and aerospace industry leaders. #JHUAPL | NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration | #DragonflyMission | #NASA | #Titan | #SpaceExploration | #PlanetaryScience

Scientists at Johns Hopkins APL have demonstrated a working capability that can radically accelerate the testing of critical quantum computing components, accomplishing in minutes what has previously taken days or even weeks. https://jhuapl.link/4de As quantum computers based on superconducting qubits have increased in capacity in recent years, a worrisome and recurring problem has emerged: the tendency for many qubits to suddenly and inexplicably fail all at once for a brief period. Initial experiments led experts to believe that these spontaneous qubit collapses were due to ambient radiation, which comes from a variety of sources, including muons — produced when high-energy cosmic rays collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere — and terrestrial gamma rays from rock, soil and even concrete. APL is home to a linear accelerator that can drive electrons to energy levels that simulate cosmic ray muons. This means that instead of waiting for cosmic rays to strike, APL scientists can actively reproduce them. Kevin Schultz, assistant manager of APL’s Alternative Computing Paradigms program, along with lead scientists Alan Hunt, Tom McJunkin and Tom Haard, successfully demonstrated that the linear accelerator can be used to simulate not only cosmic rays but also terrestrial gamma radiation, making it a comprehensive solution for testing the impact of radiation on superconducting qubit chips. #JHUAPL | #QuantumComputing | #QuantumTechnology | #CosmicRays | #SuperConductors | #LinearAccelerator

Designing systems to endure the Moon’s harsh and unpredictable environment is no small feat. Lunar experts with NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), led by Johns Hopkins APL, are addressing these challenges head-on. The team is focused on overcoming the unique obstacles of lunar exploration - from extreme conditions to challenging terrain - to ensure reliable performance from technology. https://jhuapl.link/4b5 To support this effort, they have developed a new resource - a video series titled Lunar Engineering 101 - to guide technology developers in creating systems designed to withstand the challenging conditions of the Moon’s surface. The videos highlights the key characteristics of lunar surface environments and outline hardware design challenges that engineers face. Produced by LSIC on behalf of NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII), the series is paving the way for the development of innovative technology for exploration of the Moon and beyond. #JHUAPL | NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration | #LunarExploration | #SpaceTechnology | #SpaceExploration | #EngineeringInnovation

Dave Van Wie has been selected to lead Johns Hopkins APL as its next director. Van Wie, currently the Air and Missile Defense Sector Head at APL, is a distinguished leader and scholar whose groundbreaking contributions to national defense and aerospace engineering have significantly advanced our nation’s security. His appointment is effective July 14. https://jhuapl.link/vanwie

A team from Johns Hopkins APL played a key role in Vista Gladiator, a recent Defense Department wargame held in partnership with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command. The exercise focused on how to protect logistics infrastructure from growing threats. https://jhuapl.link/1ac The weeklong wargame examined the military’s dependence on private sector infrastructure and the coordination needed among the military, government and industry to secure logistics operations from emerging threats. Representatives from more than 50 organizations explored how to strengthen supply chains and infrastructure against adversary attacks and extreme weather, emphasizing the need for resilient systems, personnel and operations. “Homeland defense has become even more critical as the threats have come to our shores in recent years,” said Liz Parkin, manager of the Resilient Critical Infrastructure program in APL’s Homeland Defense Mission Area. “APL can help frame critical challenges from many angles and through the eyes of many military and government sponsors, in ways they may not be able to see from within their own organizations.” #JHUAPL | United States Department of Defense | #NationalSecurity | #HomelandSecurity | #Cybersecurity | #DefenseTechnology | #Wargaming

Bringing together material and data scientists, Johns Hopkins APL is leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to rapidly discover materials that can withstand extreme environments. https://jhuapl.link/6xf “As the U.S. faces pressing national security challenges, there are increasing operations in austere environments — and those operations require revolutionary new materials,” said Morgan Trexler, who leads APL’s Science of Extreme and Multifunctional Materials program. “We cannot wait decades to discover materials that meet those needs. By infusing AI approaches throughout the discovery process, we can more quickly and intentionally identify materials for complex, specific applications.” Because researching new materials is time-consuming and expensive, Trexler added, researchers tend to identify and augment shortcomings in existing materials, rather than explore new element combinations from scratch. “The approach to building on existing materials will only ever yield limited improvements,” said Keith Caruso, chief scientist in APL’s Research and Exploratory Development Department. “To create groundbreaking materials, we need to make a fundamental leap.” #JHUAPL | #AI | #ArtificialIntelligence | #MachineLearning | #MaterialsDiscovery | #MaterialsDesign | #MaterialFabrication | #hypersonic

Johns Hopkins APL was honored to welcome U.S. Representative Sarah Elfreth and members of her team to our Laurel, Maryland campus today. During her visit, Congresswoman Elfreth met with Lab leaders to discuss key science and technology research priorities. She also engaged directly with APL experts in space exploration, artificial intelligence, battery technology, and robotics and received demonstrations highlighting the Lab’s innovative contributions to critical national challenges. #JHUAPL | #Innovation | #AI | #SpaceExploration | #Robotics | #MarylandInnovation | #FederalPartnerships | #NationalSecurity | #ResearchAndDevelopment

Researchers at Johns Hopkins APL are advancing human-robot teaming capabilities by using artificial intelligence to equip autonomous agents with the capacity to plan and act like humans. https://jhuapl.link/b51 Currently, robots require extensive training and human guidance, often via controller, to perform even simple actions. The effort, known as Full Scene Extraction, involves training robots to map their surroundings, plan paths, and execute tasks independently. With this approach, APL researchers aim to enable autonomous agents to understand commands in plain English, like conversing with a human, leveraging advances in large language and visual language models. Building on APL’s work in human-robot teaming, Full Scene Extraction integrates with projects like ConceptAgent, an AI framework that enhances a robot’s ability to create task execution plans, assess progress and replan as needed. By combining Full Scene Extraction’s perception accuracy with ConceptAgent’s open-world reasoning, researchers are improving autonomous task execution. With the potential to aid warfighters and first responders, they are also exploring how information gathered in austere environments may impact autonomous agents. #JHUAPL | #ArtificialIntelligence | #AutonomousSystems | #Robotics | #DefenseTechnology | #FirstResponders | #DisasterRelief

Researchers from Johns Hopkins APL have established new, scalable methods of developing battery- and solar-powered fibers, making it theoretically possible for electrical energy to be harvested from, and stored in, the clothing people wear. https://jhuapl.link/hpj These fibers could power high-performance wearable electronics that breathe, stretch and wash just like conventional textiles. “The biggest challenge with current solar cell technology is its rigidity,” said Michael Jin, lead author of the solar cell paper. “You can imagine shrinking solar panels, like those on a rooftop, into a tiny solar fiber is very challenging.” To overcome this challenge, the team leveraged a specific type of solar cell that has both positive and negative terminals on the back side in a finger-like pattern. Starting from this cell, the researchers cut and assembled tiny solar cells on thin, flexible circuit boards before sealing them in a protective polymer to create a fiber-like strand. The solar cells are so small they could fit between the ridges of a fingerprint. #JHUAPL | #WearableTech | #InnovativeTextiles | #TextileManufacturing

Johns Hopkins APL and Microsoft have joined forces to drive innovation in AI-powered robotics and materials discovery. This collaboration will advance autonomous robotic teams that operate independently and accelerate superconductor research using generative AI. Combining APL’s expertise with Microsoft’s AI capabilities will help shape the future of advanced technology. https://jhuapl.link/c2c “By combining cutting-edge AI with our team’s expertise in designing, building and applying advanced technologies, we will continue to drive transformative impact on mission-critical work for our nation’s toughest challenges,” said Bart Paulhamus, chief of APL’s Intelligent Systems Center. #JHUAPL | #Microsoft | #Robotics | #MaterialsDevelopment | #Microsoft | #GenAI | #GenerativeAI | #MatterGen