From the frontiers of physics, to the depths of space, to the extremes of speed, to the complexities of systems-of-systems engineering, to the subtleties
of stochastic optimization, APL’s technical staff spans an amazing breadth of science and technology. Clockwise from top: New Horizons nears Pluto
and Charon in this artist’s conception of an event planned for at least a decade hence; the shipboard vertical launch of a Standard Missile 3 engineering development vehicle for exo-atmospheric intercept of a ballistic missile brings together many subsystems and technological developments; APL’s
dual combustion ramjet recently became the first to operate at Mach 6 using ordinary hydrocarbon fuel; an experiment in quantum optics tests new
concepts in quantum computing. Background: an abstract representation of a recommended path through a mine field meeting specified constraints
on travel time and probability of successful traversal.