United States Naval Research Laboratory

[6] Current areas of research at NRL include, for example:[5] In 2014, the NRL was researching: armor for munitions in transport, high-powered lasers, remote explosives detection, spintronics, the dynamics of explosive gas mixtures, electromagnetic railgun technology, detection of hidden nuclear materials, graphene devices, high-power extremely high frequency (35–220 GHz) amplifiers, acoustic lensing, information-rich orbital coastline mapping, arctic weather forecasting, global aerosol analysis & prediction, high-density plasmas, millisecond pulsars, broadband laser data links, virtual mission operation centers, battery technology, photonic crystals, carbon nanotube electronics, electronic sensors, mechanical nano-resonators, solid-state chemical sensors, organic opto-electronics, neural-electronic interfaces and self-assembling nanostructures.2014 additions included the NRL Nanoscience Institute's 5,000 sq ft (460 m2) Class 100 nanofabrication cleanroom;[8][9] quiet and ultra-quiet measurement labs;[10] and the Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR).[12] NRL pioneered the study of the sun Ultraviolet and X-Ray spectrum and continues to contribute to the field with satellites like Coriolis launched in 2003.Prior to the success of surveillance satellites, the iconic parabolic antenna atop NRL's main headquarters in Washington, D.C. was part of Communication Moon Relay, a project that utilized signals bounced off the Moon both for long-distance communications research and surveillance of internal Soviet transmissions during the Cold War.[23] NRL has a long history of contributions to materials science, dating back to the use of Industrial radiography with gamma rays for the nondestructive inspection of metal casings and welds on Navy vessels beginning in the 1920s.That knowledge is in widespread use today in applications ranging from design of nuclear reactors to aircraft, submarines and toxic material storage tanks.[25] NRL discovered solar-wind hydrogen in Apollo lunar soil samples provided by a NASA-funded research mission.[26] Fundamental aspects of stealth technology were developed at NRL, including the radar absorption mechanisms in ferrite-containing materials.The same polymer films are used in Los Angeles-class submarine radomes to repel water and enable radar operation soon after surfacing.The Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) protocol developed at NRL is widely used for virtual private network (VPN) connections worldwide.[45] The static discharger seen on trailing edges of virtually all modern aircraft was originally developed by NRL scientists during World War II.In 1985 two scientists at the laboratory, Herbert A. Hauptman and Jerome Karle, won the Nobel Prize for devising direct methods employing X-ray diffraction analysis in the determination of crystal structures.[48] Their methods form the basis for the computer packages used in pharmaceutical labs and research institutions worldwide for the analysis of more than 10,000 new substances each year.Its missions include, for example, Rampant Lion, which used sophisticated airborne instrumentation (gravimeters, magnetometers and hyperspectral cameras) to collect precise 3D topography of two-thirds of Afghanistan and locate natural resources (underground gas and mineral deposits, vegetation types, etc.)Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, granted the tract of land which includes the present NRL campus to William Middleton in 1663.It became part of the District of Columbia in 1791, and was purchased by Thomas Grafton Addison in 1795, who named the area Bellevue and built a mansion on the highlands to the east.In 1873 the land was purchased by the federal government as the Bellevue Annex to the Naval Gun Factory, and several buildings were constructed including the Commandant's house, "Quarters A", which is still in use today.By the beginning of World War II, five new divisions had been added: Physical Optics, Chemistry, Metallurgy, Mechanics and Electricity, and Internal Communications.New lubricants were produced, as were antifouling paints, luminous identification tapes, and a marking dye to help locate survivors of disasters at sea.The reorganization also caused a parallel shift of the Laboratory's emphasis to one of long-range basic and applied research in the full range of the physical sciences.This was achieved by transforming a group of largely autonomous scientific divisions into a unified institution with a clear mission and a fully coordinated research program.[5] In 1992, the previously separate Naval Oceanographic and Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NOARL), with centers in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and Monterey, California, was merged into NRL.Throughout the past century, NRL has changed the way the U.S. military fights, improved its capabilities, prevented technological surprise, transferred vital technology to industry, and tilted the world’s balance of power on at least three occasions; with the first U.S. radar, world’s first intelligence satellite, and first operational satellite of the Global Positioning System (GPS).[81] An online Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting in May 2021 alarmed residents because of extremely high PFAS levels in the soil at the CBD's fire training facility.
Naval Research Laboratory seal
Part of the Naval Research Laboratory main campus in Washington, D.C. The prominent dish antenna is often used as a symbol of the laboratory.
This building on NRL's main campus features prominent radomes on its roof
NRL satellite image of hurricane Harvey just prior to landfall on the Texas coast, 2017.
Scientific Development Squadron ONE ( VXS-1 ) NP-3D Orion .
The Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research has a Tropical High Bay that is a 60-foot by 40-foot greenhouse, and it contains a re-creation of a southeast Asian rain forest. In the Tropical High Bay, temperatures average 80 degrees with 80 percent humidity year round.
An aerial view of the NRL complex in 2012. The area shown contains the oldest five buildings on the campus.
NRL in 1923, the year it was founded, showing the first five buildings on its campus
NRL in 1944, after significant wartime growth
NRL in 2001
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