Using off-the-shelf servers, NASA and HPE are devising a way to allow a Mars-bound spacecraft to house an on-board supercomputer.
To test the concept, NASA has launched the SpaceX CRS-12 rocket containing HPE’s “Spaceborne Computer” as its payload. According the company, the servers that make up the system are of the same type that power Pleiades, NASA’s flagship 7-petaflop supercomputer housed at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Pleiades is currently the 15th most powerful system in the world, according to the latest TOP500 rankings
The Spaceborne Computer will be deposited at the International Space Station (ISS), where it be part of a year-long experiment to find out how regular commodity servers can operate in the harsh conditions of outer space.
Read more at Top500
