NASA’s cutting-edge research and technology will be
showcased at the International Conference of High Performance
Computing, Networking and Storage (SC2004) in Pittsburgh’s
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Nov. 6-12, 2004.
“Bridging Communities” is the theme of SC2004. In its 16th
year, the conference brings together representatives from
many technical communities to exchange ideas, share recent
successes, and plan the future of supercomputing.
“2004 marks a real turning point for NASA with the
introduction of the Columbia supercomputer. Columbia is a
highly integrated cluster of 20, 512-processor Altix
supercomputers based on ‘Kalpana,’ the world’s first 512-
processor Altix showcased at SC2003,” said Dr. Walter Brooks,
chief of the Advanced Supercomputing Division at NASA’s Ames
Research Center, Calif. Columbia was named to honor the crew
of the Space Shuttle Columbia lost Feb. 1, 2003.
“For SC2004, we will be highlighting the underlying
technology, accelerated integration schedule and benchmarks,
and most importantly we will feature major simulations that
are occurring on this world-class system. Use of the Columbia
supercomputer is extremely high. Major analysis in space and
Earth science, as well as aeronautics and space operations,
is underway, demonstrating we have both the capacity and the
capability to accelerate all four NASA missions,” Brooks
added.
NASA’s demonstrations and presentations represent work being
done within each of the agency’s four new mission
directorates Science, Aeronautics Research, Exploration
Systems, and Space Operations. The directorates were formed
earlier this year to transform NASA’s organization to advance
the Vision for Space Exploration. NASA researchers will also
participate in panel discussions.
Visitors will also learn about work at five NASA field
centers. These projects include the design of NASA’s X-43A
scramjet-powered vehicle, which at Mach 7 holds the Guinness
World Record for the fastest air-breathing aircraft. High-
performance computing contributed to this record-breaking
flight. Another flight scheduled for Nov. 9 will attempt to
reach a record speed of Mach 10, nearly 7,000 mph.
Visitors also will hear how a climate model, the Finite
Volume General Circulation Model is being run on Columbia.
Improvements in the model, including an increased range of
remote sensing data produced by NASA’s Earth observing
satellites, are being used to explore the Earth’s atmosphere.
Results from this next generation model indicate in the
future, we can expect to see significant improvements in the
accuracy of forecasts for events such as major storms and
hurricanes.
Another NASA highlight is a computational framework for
design and analysis of the entire fuel supply system of a
liquid rocket engine, including high-fidelity unsteady
turbopump flow analysis. Featured will be analysis results
along with performance data of the simulation runs on
Columbia. Advances in the emerging field of nanophase thermal
and structural composite materials will be presented. These
materials are expected to revolutionize the capabilities of
virtually every system for future robotic and human
exploration missions of the moon and Mars.
The Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest
Group for Architecture and the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineering Computer Society sponsors SC2004. For
more information about the conference, visit:
http://www.sc-conference.org/sc2004/
For information about NASA and agency programs on the
Internet, visit:
