From the Program Manager

Dr. William J. Feiereisen
Program Manager, High Performance Computing and Communications Program
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, California

Issue 3, September 1997

elcome to the on-line version of NASA's Insights Newsletter.

Text Only F E A T U R E S >Propelling Power of Prediction >Cataclysm in the Sky >The Internet of the not-so-distant Future ->__RETURN TO COVER__ I N T E R V I E W S >John Toole >Lee Holcomb ->__RETURN TO COVER__ I N - B R I E F >NASA HPCC News ->__RETURN TO COVER__ E V E N T S >Recent Events ->__RETURN TO COVER__

Insights is published by the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program Office. Address changes to Judy Conlon or write to: NASA HPCC Insights, Mail Stop 269-3, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000, USA

Welcome to INSIGHTS, NASA's newsletter on the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program. Since the last issue, many interesting developments have occurred in the program.

At the beginning of July, the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program reached a milestone -- the successful conclusion of our first three-year cooperative research agreement (CRA). IBM led a consortium of companies and universities to work with us on our "generation-one" parallel supercomputers. The Boeing Company, one of the partners in the program, continues beyond "generation-one" and explores the use of parallel computing for the design of helicopter rotors. Examples of Boeing's computing advances at work in this issue of INSIGHTS are featured in the lead story Propelling power of prediction.

Our examination of parallel supercomputing simulation for Earth and space sciences continues in the feature Cataclysm in the sky, where a research team studies neutron star mergers under University of Illinois computer scientist Paul Saylor's leadership.

Through the NASA Research and Education Network, HPCC participates in the planning for the Next Generation Internet, a research program proposed by the Clinton administration. In the story The Internet of the not-so-distant future, we describe the possibilities and challenges of much faster communication.

HPCC is orchestrated for the entire federal government by the Committee on Computing, Information and Communications (CCIC). John Toole, formerly of the National Coordinating Office (NCO), led the national efforts for this committee. We interview him and ask questions about the direction of HPCC and the CCIC.

Since its inception, NASA's HPCC program has been led by Lee Holcomb. In the last year, Holcomb has taken on higher duties within NASA and represents the information technology interests of NASA at the national level. Lee shares his insight gathered from years of involvement in HPCC.

As always, we welcome your feedback.

Bill Feiereisen
wfeiereisen@mail.arc.nasa.gov