Editing MIT Lincoln Laboratory (section)

==Staff and organization==

Approximately 1,700 technical staff members work on research, prototype building, and field demonstrations. The technical staff come from a broad range of scientific and engineering fields, with electrical engineering, physics, computer science and mathematics being among the most prevalent. Two-thirds of the professional staff hold advanced degrees, and 60% of those degrees are at the doctoral level.

The technical work is organized into eight divisions:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ll.mit.edu/employment/orgtechdivisions.html |title=MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Organization of Divisions |publisher=Ll.mit.edu |access-date=2014-05-15 |archive-date=2013-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922105128/http://www.ll.mit.edu/employment/orgtechdivisions.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Air, Missile, & Maritime Defense Technology; Homeland Protection and Air Traffic Control; Cyber Security and Information Sciences; Communication Systems; Engineering; Advanced Technology; Space Systems and Technology; and ISR and Tactical Systems.

Lincoln Laboratory supports its research and development work with an infrastructure of services from six departments:<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Service Departments |url=https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/organization/service-departments |access-date=2015-04-08 |publisher=Ll.mit.edu}}</ref> Contracting Services, Facility Services, Financial Services, Information Services, Security Services, and Human Resources. Approximately 1300 people working in the service departments or as technical specialists support the research and development mission of the laboratory.

Lincoln Laboratory supports several community outreach programs. Programs that promote education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for students in grades kindergarten to high school are offered to the local community and are supported by volunteers from across the laboratory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ll.mit.edu/outreach/EducationalOutreach.html |title=MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Educational Outreach |publisher=Ll.mit.edu |access-date=2014-05-15}}</ref> The Lincoln Laboratory community service program raises awareness of both local and national needs by organizing fund-raising and outreach events that support selected charitable organizations, medical research, and U.S. troops abroad.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ll.mit.edu/outreach/CommServiceGiving.html |title=MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Community Service and Giving |publisher=Ll.mit.edu |access-date=2014-05-15}}</ref>

===Field sites===
====Lincoln Space Surveillance Complex====
Since 1995, the Lincoln Space Surveillance Complex in [[Westford, Massachusetts]], has played a key role in space situational awareness and the laboratory's overall space surveillance mission. The site comprises three major radars – Millstone Deep-Space Tracking Radar (an [[L-band]] radar), [[Haystack Observatory|Haystack]] Long-Range Imaging Radar ([[W band|W-band]] and [[X-band]]), and the Haystack Auxiliary Radar ([[Ku-band]]). 
Lincoln Laboratory is also engaged in field work at sites in the continental U.S. and the [[Pacific]] region.

====Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands====
Lincoln Laboratory serves as the scientific advisor to the Reagan Test Site<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smdc.army.mil/RTS.html |title=smdc.army.mil |publisher=smdc.army.mil |access-date=2014-05-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510081644/http://www.smdc.army.mil/rts.html |archive-date=2014-05-10 }}</ref> at the U.S. Army [[Kwajalein Atoll]] installation located about 2500 miles WSW of [[Hawaii]]. The laboratory also supports upgrades to the command-and-control infrastructure of the range to include applications of real-time discrimination and decision aids developed as a result of research at the laboratory.

==== {{anchor|Lincoln Laboratory's ETS}} The Experimental Test Site at White Sands Missile Range ====
{{See also|Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research}}

The '''Lincoln Laboratory Experimental Test Site''' (ETS; [[List of observatory codes|obs. code]]: [[IAU code#704|704]]) is an electro-optical test facility located on the grounds of the [[White Sands Missile Range]] in [[Socorro, New Mexico|Socorro]], [[New Mexico]]. The ETS is operated by the laboratory for the Air Force; its principal mission is the development, evaluation, and transfer of advanced electro-optical space surveillance technologies. The ETS has been a contributing sensor to the U.S. [[Air Force Space Command]]. A spin-off program for NASA, [[Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research]] (LINEAR),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ll.mit.edu/mission/space/linear/ |title=MIT Lincoln Laboratory: LINEAR |publisher=Ll.mit.edu |access-date=2014-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724185128/http://www.ll.mit.edu/mission/space/linear/ |archive-date=2017-07-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> uses the ground-based electro-optical deep-space surveillance telescopes at White Sands to discover [[comet]]s and [[asteroid]]s, in particular [[near-Earth object]]s. A large percentage share of all known [[minor planet]]s in the Solar System have been discovered through this program. As of 2020, the [[Minor Planet Center]] credits LINEAR with the discovery of 149,793 minor planets from 1997 to 2012. In terms of the total number of discoveries, LINEAR is the most successful asteroid [[Astronomical survey|survey program]] ever conducted.<ref name="MPC-Discoverers">{{cite web
  |title      = Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |url        = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPDiscsNum.html
  |date       = 15 June 2020
  |access-date = 27 July 2020}}</ref>

In 2013, NASA's lunar-orbiting Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer ([[LADEE]]) carried an optical communications terminal built by Lincoln Laboratory that communicated with a ground terminal at another site at the White Sands Missile Range. This system, the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) transmitted data in both directions at the fastest speeds ever recorded for deep-space communication. The demonstration is now being followed by a number of optical systems that will allow much higher volumes of data transfer for both scientific discovery and human exploration.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/12/09/mit-lincoln-laboratory-builds-broadband-for-moon/J8Gi8MyllWNvR3InBIuZlM/story.html |title=MIT's Lincoln Lab helps speed space communication |website=bostonglobe.com |date=2013-12-09 |access-date=2017-04-08}}</ref>