?Some NASA supercomputers cause mission delays.. What's the story
NASA uses the most advanced technologies in the world to make the greatest discoveries in human history. However, according to a special report conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of the US Space Agency, its supercomputing capabilities are no longer able to work with the expected efficiency, resulting in... Space missions delayed.
NASA supercomputers
NASA's supercomputers still rely mainly on central processing units (CPUs). For example: One of NASA's supercomputers has 18,000 central processing units (processor/processor) and 48 graphics processing units (graphics processor/video card). ".
NASA currently has five HEC assets located at its facilities in California and Maryland. The space agency's computers include the "Aitken" supercomputer charged with the tasks of returning humans to the moon and establishing a sustainable presence there, the "Discover" supercomputer responsible for simulating weather and climate, and the "Pleiades" supercomputer, which is also used for weather simulations, in addition to astrophysical studies, and others.
Despite the breakthrough capabilities of these devices, the processor cores in them are becoming outdated, the report stated: “HEC officials raised several concerns about this observation, noting that the inability to update NASA’s systems could be attributed to various factors such as… related to the supply chain, modern computing requirements, and the scarcity of qualified personnel to deal with advanced systems.”
“Ultimately, the inability to modernize infrastructure will directly impact the space agency’s ability to achieve its exploratory, scientific, and research goals,” the report continued.
The OIG's audits also revealed that the company's edge computing division It is not managed centrally, leading to inefficiency and a lack of coherent strategies, especially regarding whether or not cloud resources are preferred, to the point where some tasks are now being assigned to specific computers rather than supercomputers.
In addition, reviews found that security controls on supercomputer infrastructure are often bypassed, increasing the risk of cyber attacks.
Ultimately, the report indicates that moving to modern graphics processing units and keeping pace with developments is essential to meet NASA's future needs.
Source: websites