NASA, Intel, SGI Plan to Soup Up Super Computer

NASA, Intel, SGI Plan to Soup Up Super Computer

www.nasa.gov

By 2009 the US space agency aims to be running a petaflop supercomputer that will be able to do 1,000 trillion calculations per second.

By 2012 it hopes to have boosted the power of this machine to 10 petaflops, to help with modeling and simulation.

If it manages the feat, it will be one of only a few organisations that can tap such vast number-crunching power.
...
The Pleiades Project, as NASA has christened its updating project, will enlist the help of Intel and SGI to create the machine.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.spacedaily.com
www.networkworld.com
news.bbc.co.uk

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Do the Pleiadians Really Exist?
SR-71 Blackbird / Aurora

[edit on 8-5-2008 by uberdave223]

NASA would be number 5 on the list of Super Computers. I don't think the given calculation takes into account the speed increase of the other Super Computers on the list.

The Pleiades Project or, "What the hell do you need a petaflop for?"
These computers are used to solve extremely complex equations for nuclear, aerospace, population graphs/predictions, metallurgy, and biological (DNA, eugenics) applications (just to name a few). The Pleiades Project's official purpose is to develop a super-powerful modeling and simulation system for the space program. "As the agency plots new missions to the moon and possibly Mars, the need for advanced simulations will only grow. " (networkworld.com)

A few interesting, possibly unrelated references to The Pleiades Project:

• Pleiades Project - A Carnegie Mellon sponsored research program. It's purpose is to make "smart" software, serving the user.
  
• The Pleiades Project - An international research community, devoted to the study of ancient geography. They have a focus on group collaboration and are supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
  
• In the related threads up above there is a link to a discussion about Billy Meier and the Pleiadians. There are LOTS of other interesting relationships to the Pleiadian star system if you dig deeper...

www.nasa.gov
(visit the link for the full source)

[edit on 8-5-2008 by uberdave223]

Part 2 - or, Who has the biggest supercomputer-peen?

BlueGene/L is number one on the list of supercomputers.
Who is funding Blue?

• National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA.
  It is a "separately organized entity within the U.S. Department of Energy" established by Congress in 2000. It's purpose is to "be responsible for the management and security of the nation’s nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation, and naval reactor programs. It also responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad. Additionally, NNSA federal agents provide safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons and components and special nuclear materials along with other missions supporting the national security."
  
• Los Alamos National Laboratory: National Security Science
  LANL is "Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration." It's purpose is to "...deliver scientific and engineering solutions for the nation's most crucial and complex problems. Our primary responsibility is ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the nation's nuclear deterrent."
  
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  LLNL is "Operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration." It's purpose is "...to be responsible for ensuring that the nation’s nuclear weapons remain safe, secure, and reliable through application of advances in science and engineering. With its special capabilities, the Laboratory also meets other pressing national security needs, which include countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and strengthening homeland security against the terrorist use of such weapons."
  
• Sandia National Laboratories
  SNL is "operated by the Lockheed Martin Corporation for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration." Who are they? "Since 1949, Sandia National Laboratories has developed science-based technologies that support our national security. Today, the 300+ million Americans depend on Sandia's technology solutions to solve national and global threats to peace and freedom."
  

Somebody's hands are all over this... Anyone else have questions?


[edit on 8-5-2008 by uberdave223]

[edit on 8-5-2008 by uberdave223]

I thought SGI went out of business....

Originally posted by Alxandro
I thought SGI went out of business....

Doesn't appear that way right now: SGI

Here are some more technical details on SGI's role

The system will augment NASA's Columbia supercomputer, an SGI® Altix® system that, when it was installed in 2004, made history as the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Since then, Columbia has enabled a wide range of breakthroughs, including the preliminary design of a new launch vehicle that someday will carry astronauts back into space, weather models capable of predicting a hurricane's path up to five days before landfall, and a visualization of gravitational waves created by two colliding black holes.