Conference 7.286::space

267.0. "Numerical Aerodynamic Simulator" by CYGNUS::ALLEGREZZA (George Allegrezza) Tue Mar 10 1987 13:52

Associated Press Tue 10-MAR-1987 08:25                      NASASupercomputer

Giant Supercomputer Marks New Era Rivaling Wright Brothers' Flight

By STEVE WILSTEIN
Associated Press Writer

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) - NASA has dedicated a giant supercomputer
system that space agency officials say will help bring in a new era in
aviation that rivals the Wright Brothers's first flight. 

``This is an historic day in aviation,'' NASA Administrator James C.
Fletcher said Monday, the day the computer was dedicated. The supercomputer
will help ensure U.S. leadership in aeronautics, he said. 

The Numerical Aerodynamic Simulator, which NASA scientists called the
world's most advanced computer, is an evolving system capable of making 250
million calculations per second and holding a memory of 256 million words. 

The system, which cost nearly $100 million to develop, will be upgraded to
one billion computations per second by next year and four billion per
second within a decade. 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration introduced the system
with great fanfare, inviting 2,500 officials and dignitaries from around
the country, setting up a national television conference, holding an
``electronic ribbon-cutting'' and throwing a bash complete with a Navy
band. 

The hoopla was designed in part to boost NASA's image after a year of
failures that included the Challenger space shuttle disaster. 

``Yes, it does feel like we've taken quite a beating,'' said Raymond S.
Colladay, NASA's associate administrator for Aeronautics and Space
Technology. ``The dedication of this tremendous complex is a further
indication to people that NASA is back on track.' 

Colladay said the broad uses of the system in aerospace design, physics,
chemistry, weather modeling and biology will ``show people that they're
getting their money's worth.'' 

He added there's no direct connection between President Reagan's strategic
defense plans known as Star Wars and the supercomputer, although some work
on the system will be classified and defense-related. 

The system's importance to flight design rivals the advent of wind tunnels
and the flight at Kitty Hawk, said Victor L. Peterson, director of
aerophysics at the NASA's Ames Research Center. 

The new system, which has the combined power of 50,000 personal computers
working together, already has been used to help redesign the space shuttle.

The system is a key part of the program to develop the next generation of
manned space vehicle, the National Aerospace Plane, which will take off
from a conventional runway and accelerate directly into orbit at 17,000
mph. 

Although the computer system will be used for a variety of research, 90
percent of its time will be devoted to pioneering research and development
in aerodynamics - the study of airflow around and forces generated by
aircraft in Earth's atmosphere.