林肯實驗室是甚麼？

林肯實驗室 (MIT Lincoln Laboratory) 是美國聯邦政府資助的實驗室，主要是研製國防科技，例如國防通訊，太空偵察，導彈防禦，戰術監視，空中交通管制以及防空，因此一般被認為是國家機密。

以下是林肯實驗室的歷史簡介︰
Created in 1951 as a federally-funded research center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory quickly established a reputation for pioneering advanced electronics in air defense systems. The Laboratory’s fundamental mission is to apply science and advanced technology to critical problems of national security.

The scope of the problems has broadened from the initial emphasis on air defense to include space surveillance, missile defense, battlefield surveillance and identification, communications, and air traffic control, all supported by a strong advanced electronic technology activity.

Significant technical advances supporting this work resulted in the first real-time computer processing of radar data and the development of magnetic-core data storage that greatly increased system reliability and computer memory.

Many of the technical developments that later evolved into improved systems for the airborne detection and tracking of aircraft and ground vehicles have, in turn, formed the basis for current research.

The Laboratory’s Millstone Hill radar, completed in 1957, utilized the first all solid state, programmable digital computer for real-time tracking of objects in space.

In addition to its role in developing technology basic to the ballistic missile early warning system, the Millstone Hill facility was the first radar to detect and track the Soviet Sputnik satellites and later served as a tracking station for Cape Canaveral launches.

Early Laboratory studies of the signatures of remotely-sensed reentry vehicles and the associated problems of radar detection and tracking were instrumental in the development of ballistic missile defense strategies.

Ballistic missile defense technology continues to be a high priority with emphasis on the development of algorithms to permit discrimination of objects. It is a key requirement for both theater and national missile defense. Also, recognition and identification of ground objects remains a primary goal of surface surveillance programs.

The air defense area has grown again at the Laboratory, focused not on bomber defense but on cruise missile detection and air vehicle survivability issues. Digital-signal processing and pattern recognition are key research areas of this renewed effort.

In the early 1960s, MIT Lincoln Laboratory initiated the development of satellite communications systems for national defense, which resulted in the launch of eight experimental communications satellites.

The Laboratory demonstrated advances in autonomous spacecraft control, the use of solid state devices to ensure long-term spacecraft reliability, and the development of mobile earth terminals for secure communications systems.

In the early 1970s, MIT Lincoln Laboratory began an active program in civil air traffic control, emphasizing radar surveillance, collision avoidance, hazardous weather detection, and the use of automation aids in the control of aircraft.

In the 1980s the Laboratory accomplished significant experiments in compensating for the effects of atmospheric turbulence by using adaptive optics and developed a high-power laser radar system.

In the 1990s work for other government agencies included sensor development for NOAA and NASA. Currently the Laboratory is developing an advanced land imaging instrument as part of the New Millennium program.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory performed the initial research for the development of the semiconducting laser and designed an infrared laser radar to develop techniques for high-precision pointing and tracking of satellites.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory, also known as Lincoln Lab, is a federally funded research and development center managed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and primarily funded by the United States Department of Defense. Lincoln Lab is located at Hanscom Air Force Base in the town of Lexington, Massachusetts, and was founded in 1951. Lincoln Lab is one of several sensitive locations which have their satellite images censored by Google Maps.
The laboratory's annual research expenditures in 2006 were $625.3 million, (larger than the rest of MIT's total research expenditures).[2] The laboratory's research is largely classified national defense research, but also contributes to worldwide communications and civil air traffic control.

A feature of the relationship between Lincoln Lab and MIT is that intellectual property generated at Lincoln is owned by MIT and managed by the MIT Technology Licensing Office (TLO). This affects the industrial or commercial practice of applications of research and development at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and the process of creating spin-off companies.