Section 5 Lincoln Laboratory Lincoln Laboratory—Past and Future 77 Major Programs/Prototypes 79 Major Technology Transfers 80 Lincoln Laboratory Mission Areas 81 Lincoln Laboratory Technical Staff 82 Lincoln Laboratory’s Economic Impact 82 MIT/Lincoln Laboratory Interactions 83 Test Facilities and Field Sites 84 Lincoln Laboratory Outreach Metrics 85 75 MIT Briefing Book • The Laboratory’s advanced imaging ladar system Lincoln Laboratory was flown over Puerto Rico to generate a base- MIT Lincoln Laboratory is a federally funded research line map of ground conditions that will be used and development center (FFRDC) operated by the Insti- to direct U.S. recovery efforts if a disastrous tute under contract with the Department of Defense hurricane hits again. (DoD). The Laboratory’s core competencies are in • The Micro-sized Microwave Atmospheric sensors, information extraction (signal processing and Satellite CubeSat, launched into low Earth orbit embedded computing), communications, integrated in early 2018, successfully demonstrated an sensing, and decision support, all supported by a advanced compact microwave sounder and strong program in advanced electronics technology. provided the first multiband radiometer measurements from a CubeSat payload. Lincoln Laboratory’s mission is to apply technology to problems of national security. Technology devel- • A NASA probe called the Transiting Exoplanet opment is focused on these research areas—space Survey Satellite (TESS) was launched into orbit control; air, missile, and maritime defense technology; last spring. This probe, developed with the MIT communication systems; cyber security and informa- Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Re- tion sciences; intelligence, surveillance, and recon- search, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, naissance systems; advanced technologies; artificial will search for Earth-like planets that may have intelligence; bioengineering and biomedical research; the possibility of harboring life. autonomous systems; microelectronics; quantum systems; energy; tactical systems; and homeland • Through our R&D into technology to protect protection; as well as nondefense projects in air traffic the nation’s critical infrastructure, such as control and weather surveillance. mass transit systems, against explosive attacks, we demonstrated a system to detect threats Two of our principal objectives are (1) development concealed on persons who are in areas of high of components and systems for experiments, engi- pedestrian traffic. neering measurements, and tests under field oper- ating conditions and (2) dissemination of information • A new field-programmable imaging array inte- to the government, academia, and industry. Program grated circuit that can be reused by multiple activities extend from fundamental investigations ladar and imaging systems greatly extends the through the design process, to field demonstrations of capabilities of the widely adaptable digital focal prototype systems. Emphasis is placed on transitioning plane array we developed. systems and technology to operational use in military • We successfully demonstrated the first deployments and to the defense industry. balloon-based communications relay array, which used ten balloon-borne payloads to MIT Lincoln Laboratory also maintains long-term achieve over-the-horizon communications competency, retains high-quality staff, provides inde- despite co-channel interference. pendent perspective on critical issues, sustains stra- tegic sponsor relationships, and develops technology • Our energy resilience analysis methodology for long-term interests and short-term, high-priority and software were deployed to 27 Depart- needs of our DoD sponsors. Significant milestones ment of Defense installations around the world reached in several areas represent only a fraction of and are slated to be adopted by more military the technology developed over the past year. installations for future energy assessments. • A novel infrared search-and-track system that was tested in maritime environments will be • We have developed architectures that allow us used to inform the design of a future naval to integrate cyber security into small satellites. sensor for persistent surveillance. 76 MIT Briefing Book Lincoln Laboratory Lincoln Laboratory—Past and Future 100s of radars to an array of command centers, trans- formed computing by pioneering the magnetic core The Founding of MIT Lincoln Laboratory memory, and spawned several defense companies. In September 1949, President Truman announced that the rumors of a Soviet nuclear capability were Lincoln Laboratory as an FFRDC well founded; the world had evidence that an atomic Lincoln Laboratory was founded as a federally funded bomb had been tested by the Soviets in August. research and development center (FFRDC). An FFRDC This news and the subsequent confirmation that assists the U.S. government with scientific research the Soviet Union had developed long-range aircraft and analysis, systems development, and systems capable of reaching the United States via an Arctic acquisition to provide novel, cost-effective solutions route caused the Department of Defense to examine to complex government problems. Combining the its defenses against an air attack. When the DoD expertise and outlook of government, industry, and determined that the nation did not have an effective, academia, FFRDCs are independent, nonprofit labs modern system that would provide timely warning that are prohibited from competing with industry or of, and then engage countermeasures to, a nuclear working for commercial companies. air strike, it tasked the Air Force with improving U.S. air defenses. Each FFRDC is sponsored by a government agency but is privately managed by a university or another A committee led by the Air Force and made up of not-for-profit organization. Currently, 42 FFRDCs are experts in aeronautics, physics, and radar studied providing various U.S. government agencies with the problem and proposed the creation of a labora- R&D in fields ranging from defense to energy, space, tory to develop a new air defense system. Because and health and human services. Lincoln Laboratory of the seminal, and revolutionary, work on radar is a Department of Defense FFRDC, managed by MIT systems done at MIT’s Radiation Laboratory to under a contract with the U.S. Air Force. support the Allies’ efforts during World War II, this Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee Lincoln Laboratory’s Move to the Future proposed the laboratory be run by MIT. After the SAGE system was completed, Lincoln Laboratory—with its technological experience, The Lincoln Laboratory Site at Hanscom AFB excellent technical staff, and lab and computing MIT President James Killian initially was not eager to facilities—was positioned to tackle new DoD prob- engage the Institute in another long-term, complex, lems, a chief one being the advent of ballistic missiles. and classified military project, preferring to see MIT For 68 years, Lincoln Laboratory has found new resources return to the mission of education and challenges to undertake, applying its deep and broad open research. However, he finally agreed to this knowledge of sensors and signal processing to devel- new venture, but with the stipulation that the labo- oping technology for not only air and missile defense ratory be located away from the MIT campus, which but also communication systems, space systems, he wished to maintain as a research environment advanced imaging, and more recently bioengineering, unencumbered by security restrictions. cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. The Air Force, which was the sponsor for the new To support the wide variety of its work that requires air defense system, already owned the Hanscom advanced microelectronics, Lincoln Laboratory is AFB site. It had ample space for a new facility and undertaking the construction of a Compound Semi- access to Air Force consultants. So in 1951, construc- conductor Laboratory and Microsystem Integration tion began on the buildings that would be the home Facility. The new facility will be part of the research of R&D into the radar-based air defense system called complex that still contains the four original 1951-era SAGE (for Semi-Automatic Ground Environment). For buildings, the Microelectronics Laboratory built in the the next six years, Lincoln Laboratory developed the early 1990s, and South Laboratory completed in 1995. SAGE system, which eventually digitally connected 77 MIT Briefing Book Breakdown of Laboratory Program Funding Total Funding FY2018*= $1,027.1 million Sponsor Mission Area Tactical Systems Advanced Technology 11% 12% Non- Advanced Research Department ISR Systems and of Defense Portfolio 13% Technology 4% 8% Homeland Protection 9% Aviation Space Control Research—FAA 15% 3% Air Defense 6% Department of Defense Cyber Security and 87% Information Sciences Ballistic Missile 7% Defense 8% Communication Systems 17% Total Funding Fiscal Years 2014–2018* $1,200 $1,000 137.7 91.8 128.4 80.5 94.5 881.0 886.9 889.4 $800 851.3 842.8 $600 $400 Authorized Funding in Millions in Funding Authorized $200 $0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Fiscal Year Department of Defense Other Programs *Lincoln Laboratory fiscal year runs concurrent with the U.S. Government fiscal year, October 1–September 30. 78 MIT Briefing Book Lincoln Laboratory Major Programs/Prototypes the CCDs, which allows the CCD to collect more light at the pixel level. Scientists expect TESS to discover Early Alerts to Pathogen