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High-End Computing Program

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OUR MISSION

NASA's challenging mission to explore space and understand the universe and the Earth within it requires the agency to innovatively apply and extend humankind's most advanced capabilities, technologies, and knowledge. High-end computing is one such powerful leading-edge tool.

The mission of NASA's High-End Computing (HEC) Program is to:

Plan and provision high-end computing systems and services to support NASA's mission needs. Operate and manage these HEC resources for the benefit of agency users, customers, and stakeholders.

Our mission is guided by the vision that:

NASA's HEC resources are relied on as an essential and pervasive partner by the breadth of agency science, engineering, and technology activities, enabling rapid advances in insight and dramatically enhancing mission achievements.

Four top-level HEC Program goals will lead to accomplishing the mission and achieving the vision:

  • Provide effective production HEC resources and services to enable pervasive, timely, and significant mission impacts.
  • Infuse HEC into NASA's scientific and engineering communities.
  • Assure preparedness to meet NASA’s future modeling, simulation, and analysis needs.
  • Ensure that NASA HEC resources and activities are well-managed and wisely used.

SUPPORTING NASA'S STRATEGIC GOALS

NASA's mission needs are described at the highest level in the agency's Strategic Plan. The HEC Program is enabling achievement of all six Strategic Goals in the current (2006) plan, as illustrated by the following examples:

Strategic Goal 1: Fly the Shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement, not later than 2010.

  • Simulating Space Shuttle systems and subsystems as well as debris transport and aerothermal analysis during key phases of flight.
Shuttle debris trajectories

Every Space Shuttle mission relies on HEC supercomputers for high-fidelity simulations predicting the trajectories of External Tank debris during and after launch. This simulation used debris-transport analysis software developed at NASA Ames Research Center. Research by Reynaldo Gomez, NASA Johnson Space Center.

Strategic Goal 2: Complete the International Space Station in a manner consistent with NASA's International Partner commitments and the needs of human exploration.

  • Simulation supporting understanding of the space environment effects' on astronaut health.

Strategic Goal 3: Develop a balanced overall program of science, exploration, and aeronautics consistent with the redirection of the human spaceflight program to focus on exploration.

  • Modeling the Earth and assimilating observational data to shorten the time from observations to answers for important, leading-edge science questions.
  • Modeling the solar environment to better understand the causes of space weather as it affects the Earth and other planets in the Solar System.
  • Modeling physical regimes ranging from the Solar System to the Universe to help understand observations.
  • Modeling and simulating instrument behavior, performance, and impact.
  • Simulating phenomena associated with systems in flight to accelerate aeronautics research, design, and validation.
  • Simulating complete life-sustaining environments to accelerate their planning, design, and evaluation for long-term human presence in space.
Earth globe showing ocean currents

The Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) team combines an ocean model with satellite and instrument data. HEC supercomputers allow model resolution that can capture narrow ocean currents called eddies. Research by ECCO2 project; visualization by Chris Henze, NASA Ames Research Center.

Strategic Goal 4: Bring a new Crew Exploration Vehicle into service as soon as possible after Shuttle retirement.

  • Simulating spacecraft systems and subsystems supporting the design and operational scenario evaluation for the Constellation Program.

Strategic Goal 5: Encourage the pursuit of appropriate partnerships with the emerging commercial space sector.

  • Engaging industry partners in the use of NASA modeling and simulation systems architected and operated for aerospace applications.

Strategic Goal 6: Establish a lunar return program having the maximum possible utility for later missions to Mars and other destinations.

  • Simulation supporting development of technologies to provide in situ resources on the lunar surface.
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