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Photo of Johns Hopkins APL’s Camera Reveals Surprise for NASA’s Lucy Mission in First Asteroid Encounter
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Johns Hopkins APL’s Camera Reveals Surprise for NASA’s Lucy Mission in First Asteroid Encounter

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Data Analysis

Seeing Data in New and Powerful Ways

Since the dawn of the Space Age, APL has been deeply involved in data analysis and visualization. Our scientists have the analytical capabilities to support the entire life cycle of a mission.

From investigating a team’s proposed flight trajectories, to designing and testing its instruments, to analyzing the returned mission data, APL can support mission development from beginning to end. Applying a wide range of experience in visualization, software development and algorithmic analysis, APL researchers can extract valuable scientific information from the growing amounts of mission data to address key questions about our place in the cosmos, whether from the Sun, Pluto or beyond. And with expertise in software tools and development, our scientists can comprehend and visualize this data in new and powerful ways, including machine learning, cloud computing and virtual and augmented reality. These tools and skills were used to model the heliosphere using particle instruments on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe; to analyze and re-project images of Pluto captured by NASA’s New Horizons; and to develop 3D models with the APL-designed Small Body Mapping Tool, which enables detailed studies of asteroid surfaces and aided in selecting a touch-down spot for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission on the asteroid Bennu.

Missions

APL has designed, built and operated more than 70 innovative spacecraft over its six decades of spaceflight experience. Click below to learn about some of the missions that made revolutionary discoveries, and spacecraft that will push the boundaries of exploration and investigate outstanding scientific mysteries.

Learn more about STEREO
Rendering of the STEREO spacecraft observing the Sun

STEREO

The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission has provided 3D views of the solar corona, coronal mass ejections and the solar wind, and advanced space weather forecasting.

Instruments

Scientists and engineers at APL have designed, built and operated more than 300 novel space instruments and methods to conduct cutting-edge research and make groundbreaking discoveries. Click below to learn about some of these instruments and their role in shaping our understanding of space and the solar system.

Learn more about JEDI
Jupiter Energetic-particle Detector Instrument in space

JEDI

Mission

Juno

Destinations

Giant Planets
Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument (JEDI) studies Jupiter’s magnetosphere and aurora.

Stories

Go inside APL’s space missions and research, and check out the latest news, features and discoveries from the teams that are probing mysteries from the Sun to the edge of the solar system and beyond.

Rendering of the Psyche spacecraft observing asteroid Psyche
Dec 6, 2023

Psyche Gamma-Ray Instrument Hums to Life, Marking Next Generation for Space Exploration

The gamma-ray spectrometer aboard NASA's Psyche spacecraft successfully hummed to life just a few weeks after launch. One-half of the mission's Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer instrument, the initial data returned from the instrument herald exciting things to come, both for Psyche and future NASA missions.
An artist's depiction of the silver-colored Dragonfly spacecraft flying over rust-colored dunes and against a hazy, orange sky
Nov 28, 2023

NASA Authorizes Dragonfly Mission to Proceed With Estimated 2028 Launch Readiness Date

NASA's Dragonfly mission team is moving on to the next stage of development of the revolutionary, car-sized, nuclear-powered drone it plans to fly over and land on the organic-rich sands of Saturn's large moon Titan.
A metallic trophy with two intersecting silver arches with silver spokes emanating from each to hold up a silver ball in the middle
Nov 7, 2023

DART Team Earns Smithsonian Michael Collins Trophy for Successful Planetary Defense Test Mission

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will be honored with the 2024 Michael Collins Trophy for Current Achievement. For its work developing and managing the first-ever planetary defense test mission, the team at Johns Hopkins APL and NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) is being lauded for outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology.