SpaceX plans to launch "super computer" to the space station

ByNASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

SpaceX is planning to launch a new Falcon 9 rocket on August 14, 2017. Among the cargo carried to the International Space Station (ISS) in this mission, computers that have the highest computing power so far are included.

SpaceX to launch most powerful computer ever sent to space station - Aug. 12, 2017
http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/12/technology/future/spacex-nasa-supercomputer/index.html

Launch will be carried out at 12:31 on August 14th local time in the U.S.CRS-12 MissionSpaceX'sDragon spacecraftWe are planning to refill cargo using. The Dragon spacecraft will arrive at ISS around 7 am on August 16, which will be about two days later, and the astronauts of NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) will operate the ISS arm to dock It is.

ByNIH Image Gallery

It is contained in the cargo at this time,Hewlett-Packard Enterprise(HPE) is a super computer that sells. This supercomputer called "Spaceborne Computer" has a processing capability of 30 to 100 times that of a PC that is generally sold, and it can store data of various observations and experiments obtained in space in the field It will be used for processing.

The equipment that can be launched is like this. Although it is a supercomputer, it is actually close to "server", it is supposed to be used to receive data from a laptop computer etc. on board the ISS and to process it internally and analyze necessary data I will.


Although ISS is undergoing cutting-edge research, the computer that the astronaut actually uses is basically the same as what the general people use on the earth basically, rather than several generations old It is said that there are many things being used. This is because it has been launched after confirming that it operates reliably even in harsh environments for electronic devices such as many cosmic rays falling in the spaceless zero gravity environment. Even if it is decided to introduce state-of-the-art equipment, there are circumstances where it is inevitable that it becomes "a little out of date" specification while verifying on the ground.

Therefore, even if a lot of data can be obtained by experiments and observations, it is difficult to analyze by processing inside the ISS. Because it can not be processed on board, currently we send a large amount of data via ISS and the Earth's radio line, scientists on the ground analyze the data and use it for research, but even with just one photo data Since we have to send data that it reaches several gigabytes, it consumes a lot of communication bandwidth.

The supercomputer this time is launched to improve that situation. However, full-scale operation does not begin immediately after being launched, first check whether it starts up safely by turning on the power supply. After that, it will take about two and a half hours to see if the whole works well. When the operation of each part is confirmed, the actual process finally starts, but first it is supposed to check whether the problem does not occur while verifying the operation with one year span. As mentioned earlier, the ISS that does not have an air layer like the Earth has situations where high energy cosmic rays are sequentially falling, which affects the operation of the computer and destroys the equipment Sometimes it happens. It is said that there is a precise confirmation work program unique to space development that confirms whether it can safely operate even in such circumstances with sufficient time.

When it is confirmed that the supercomputer works safely, after that, it will be used for research by carrying more equipment to the ISS, and similar equipment will be introduced at the time of future planned Mars exploration It is said that it will be. When traveling to Mars far from the Earth, the communication environment connecting the spacecraft and the Earth is not always the best, and because it is too far, a time lag occurs until the radio waves arrive. Therefore, what happens inside the space ship will basically have to be solved on the spot, but at that time it will be necessary to have a computer with a high processing capacity like this one. Verification of computers that may be useful for future space development is about to be done soon.