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College students from 10 mid-Atlantic schools will defend a virtual mass transportation computer system against full-scale cyberattacks at the 10th Annual National CyberWatch Center Mid-Atlantic Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

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MESSENGER will not go gentle into that good night. The mission will end sometime this spring, when the spacecraft runs out of propellant and the force of solar gravity causes it to impact the surface of Mercury. But the team initiated a “hover” observation campaign designed to gather scientific data from the planet at ultra-low altitudes until the last possible moment. Engineers have devised a series of orbit-correction maneuvers (OCMs) over the next five weeks — the first of which was carried out today — designed to delay the inevitable impact a bit longer

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NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission, now nearing the end of its fourth and final year of orbital operations at Mercury, is well into a low-altitude campaign that is returning images and measurements of the planet’s surface and interior that are unprecedented in their resolution. MESSENGER scientists will discuss new findings from the low-altitude campaign and their implications for Mercury's geological evolution and the planet's geophysical and geochemical characteristics at a press briefing today at the 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Presentation materials and presenter biographies are available online at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/presscon13.html.

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Two new papers from members of the MESSENGER Science Team provide global-scale maps of Mercury’s surface chemistry that reveal previously unrecognized geochemical terranes — large regions that have compositions distinct from their surroundings. The presence of these large terranes has important implications for the history of the planet.

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The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Maryland, has received $4 million in funding from the Mann Fund to develop a next-generation retinal prosthesis system. The work will be conducted in close collaboration with Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., a Sylmar, California-based company that develops, manufactures and markets implantable visual prosthetics for blind individuals.

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James N. Miller, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, has joined the Lab as a Senior Fellow. He will be joined at APL by recently appointed Senior Fellows James Gosler and Phil DePoy.

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A Colorado man made history at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) this summer when he became the first bilateral shoulder-level amputee to wear and simultaneously control two of the Laboratory’s Modular Prosthetic Limbs.

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A team of researchers has now shown that winds on Titan must blow 50 percent faster than previously thought in order to move that sand.

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Infrared images of C/2013 (Comet Siding Spring) were taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on Oct. 19, 2014.

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The National Criminal Justice Technology Research, Test and Evaluation (RT&E) Center will provide focused technology-related research, as well as testing and operational evaluations of non-forensic technologies.

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Up to and during Comet Siding Spring’s flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, NASA’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) will attempt to capture data about the comet that are unobtainable from Earth.

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APL has developed technologies for electronic disease surveillance that help improve the timeliness of access to this type of data and the corresponding analysis.

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The Siding Spring Observing Campaign, organized by the NASA-backed Coordinated Investigations Of Comets (CIOC), will conduct a workshop to discuss existing plans for Mars-based, Earth-based, and space-based observation of the comet; facilitate collaborations between observers and modelers in the comet and Mars communities; and debate strategies for maximizing scientific return.

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Ten years ago, on August 3, 2004, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a risky mission that would take the small satellite dangerously close to Mercury’s surface, paving the way for an ambitious study of the planet closest to the Sun. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of its launch, the MESSENGER team has released a movie acquired during an early stage of MESSENGER’s low-altitude campaign

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Earth’s upper atmosphere may soon be a destination for space tourists, but scientists from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory have set their sights on blazing a research trail in this “suborbital” region, with the launch of an instrument to study magnetic activity 50 miles above ground.

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Scientists have crafted the first global geologic map of Ganymede, illustrating the varied geologic character of the solar system's largest moon.

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The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) satellite, scheduled for launch in 2015, will demonstrate how accurate and wide-ranging measurements of Earth’s outgoing radiation can be made with a remarkably small instrument.

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Dr. Michael Ryschkewitsch, currently chief engineer at NASA, has been selected to lead the Space Sector at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., starting in January.

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The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory has introduced a new generation of small satellites with the launch of two experimental “cubesats” designed for a range of national security and space science operations.

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Krill, assistant director for science and technology at APL, will be inducted into the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Innovation Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, 2013 for his technical leadership in developing the Cooperative Engagement Capability for the U.S. Navy.