NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) \u2014 Back when \u201chuman computers\u201d like Katherine Johnson calculated orbital trajectories and flight times for Mercury and Apollo astronauts by hand, some people still considered actual computers mere works in progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why in 1962 a dubious John Glenn famously asked that Johnson run the numbers for his historic orbital flight to back up a NASA computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, NASA Langley Research Center is officially opening the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility \u2014 a $23 million consolidated computer center with so much firepower it\u2019ll be used on brain-busters like running entry, descent and landing simulations for the 2020 Mars rover, performing computational fluid dynamics tests to simulate wind tunnels, and developing and modeling new polymers before ever trying them out in a lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAcross the board, everybody\u2019s getting into (information technology) \u2014 the ability to simulate before you make or test,\u201d said Erik Weiser, deputy director for center operations, on Sept. 19. \u201cThis will be a very powerful tool for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naming the building for Johnson was \u201cvery appropriate, since she was one of the original human computers,\u201d said Loretta Kelemen, director of center operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conceived in 2011 as part of the Hampton center\u2019s revitalization plan to grow smaller but smarter, the facility first broke ground in 2014. It consolidates four of Langley\u2019s data centers and 30 servers into one energy-efficient space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ribbon-cutting was set for Sept. 22, with 99-year-old Johnson, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Sen. Mark Warner, \u201cHidden Figures\u201d author and Hampton native Margot Lee Shetterly, local politicians and other dignitaries set to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just inside the entrance is celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz\u2019s portrait of Johnson, whose story was told in the book and movie \u201cHidden Figures,\u201d taken at Fort Monroe last year. The entrance leads to a large open-concept office space with 84 cubicles set in long rows. The ceiling is an open architecture of joists, ductwork and pendant lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cubicles are still bare, except for a handful already occupied by beta testers who have been helping project manager Matt Hinson kick the tires to identify any issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their desks are personalized with paraphernalia such as a Yorkie-size model of an Imperial walker from \u201cStar Wars,\u201d TARDIS time machines from \u201cDoctor Who,\u201d ETs, Darth Vaders, glass skulls and posters proclaiming \u201cZombie Research Facility\u201d and \u201cMars Explorers Wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along the walls are private offices, team-up rooms, large and small conference rooms, a small break room and media center. There\u2019s a restricted IT security office where experts can run forensics and protect NASA data from cyberattack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in the restricted server room are about 100 racks, or black lockers, ready for computer servers that will run so hot it\u2019ll take three big tanks packing 750 tons of coolant to keep them happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next month, NASA will start filling up those racks into two divisions \u2014 for low-density computing, or more basic computer work, and high-density supercomputers for midrange computing. The idea is that, after those supercomputers develop their simulation codes, they\u2019ll be sent to the big supercomputer at NASA Ames Research Center to run even more sophisticated code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like other new construction under Langley\u2019s revitalization plan, this facility was built above the 500-year flood plain, said Weiser. Old buildings no longer needed are being demolished and returned to a natural state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few critical buildings, though, are still in the flood plain and can\u2019t be moved or demolished, such as the compressor station that produces the air needed for the wind tunnels. Those buildings are being hardened against floods that scientists say will only get worse with climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two other at-risk facilities are the 20-foot vertical spin tunnel and 16-foot transonic dynamics tunnel located next door at Langley Air Force Base, said Weiser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vertical spin tunnel lies along the Back River, said Kelemen, and \u201cfloods almost every time we have a rain event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Langley hopes to build a new vertical spin tunnel on higher ground one day if it can get the funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the new computational research facility springs to life, though, it likely signals a slow death for other wind tunnels as they become obsolete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard,\u201d said Weiser. \u201cFolks have spent their entire careers in the wind tunnels, so it\u2019s hard to let go \u2014 and we won\u2019t until we\u2019re ready. Once we\u2019re ready, the researchers understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, he said, \u201cthere will always be a place for testing \u2014 be it wind tunnels, be it materials testing, entry, descent and landing. We\u2019ll use the vertical wind tunnel that we\u2019re trying to build to simulate things like that. . We\u2019re going to try to drive to a place where we can answer more complex questions with computers that you may miss with a regular test. Or you use them in conjunction to get more complete answers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NASA Langley Research Center is officially opening the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility \u2014 a $23 million consolidated computer center with so much firepower it\u2019ll be used on brain-busters like running entry, descent and landing simulations for the 2020 Mars rover, performing computational fluid dynamics tests to simulate wind tunnels, and developing and modeling new polymers before ever trying them out in a lab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":53500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,110,14,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5612],"class_list":["post-17207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-it-cloud-report","category-it-networks","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VFXTOQF2SNDU5PCSGTGYIY4BUY","arc_canonical_url":"\/it-networks\/2017\/10\/02\/nasa-langleys-new-computer-lab-ushers-age-of-computation\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n