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NASA Celebrates the Grand Opening of Its New Modular Supercomputing Facility

NASA leaders cut the ribbon at the grand opening of NASA's new Modular Supercomputing Facility
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley celebrated the grand opening of its new Modular Supercomputing Facility on Aug. 22.

NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley celebrated the grand opening of its new Modular Supercomputing Facility on Aug. 22. The facility is an innovative modular approach to supercomputing that expands the power of the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility at Ames, used by more than 1,500 scientists and engineers across the country from NASA centers, industry and academia. The modular facility drastically reduces the amount of electricity and water from what is typically needed to cool traditional supercomputing facilities.

The new supercomputer, named Aitken, is housed in the first module of the facility, which has the potential to expand to 16 modules for computing and data storage. Aitken will give researchers the ability to run thousands of complex simulations more quickly as they continue to support agency missions and the Artemis program.

The facility’s first module uses an energy-efficient cooling technology uniquely suited to the San Francisco Bay Area’s temperate weather. A combination of outdoor air, fan technology, and a circulating water system removes the heat generated by the computer’s processors. The new modular facility follows on the success of a prototype facility, built in 2016 and expanded in 2017, which houses NASA’s Electra supercomputer. In fiscal year 2018, the modular approach saved approximately 2 million kilowatt-hours of power and over 3 million gallons of water, when compared to what would be used if the hardware had been installed on the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division’s traditional computer floor.

NASA leadership marked the event with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Pictured, from left to right are: William Thigpen, High-End Computing Capability Project Manager at Ames; Carol W. Carroll, Deputy Center Director at Ames; Tsengdar Lee, High-End Computing Program Manager at NASA Headquarters; Eugene Tu, Center Director at Ames; Piyush Mehrotra, Chief of the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division at Ames; David Korsmeyer, Associate Center Director, Research and Technology at Ames; Rupak Biswas, Director of Exploration Technology at Ames.

Image Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/ Dominic Hart

Learn More:Digital Press Kit – NASA’s Modular Supercomputing Facility