Description
I summarise the UK APAP work led by N.R.Badnell to provide atomic data for astrophysics and my efforts to preserve some of them for posterity.
The UK was at the forefront in this area internationally but has entered a dark age.
I will then outline the status and the programme of benchmarking them against high-resolution astrophysical and laboratory spectra, in preparation for future missions.
Some spectral regions such as the EUV are in a satisfactory situation, especially where we had sufficient high-resolution observations.
The UV is still missing a lot of atomic data and improved modelling.
The X-rays also require significant improvements to match future observations.
Finally, the soft X-rays around 10 nm and the near infrared around 2000 nm are nearly unexplored.
