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The laptop on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft

A computer operated by Hewlett-Packard Enterprise is aboard the SpaceX spacecraft when it launches on a logistics mission to the International Space Station on Monday. The computer will be used to test high-performance computers for a year during its time in orbit.


 


The laptop will be on board the space mission of the Space X Dragon spacecraft, which is scheduled to be launched from the Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 14. This technology has been designed to support the computing and communications needs of the astronauts on the missions to Mars eventually, the ISS.


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The computer uses HP Apollo 40 class computer systems with a high-performance computing link running the Linux operating system.


"We have not made any hardware modifications to these components. Instead we created a unique water-cooled enclosure for hardware and software development system built with a purpose to address the environmental constraints and reliability requirements of supercomputing in space," explained Mark Fernandez, Americas Technology Officer of SGI at HP , In an email to Fox News.


Factors that can affect computing during space missions include electrical power instability, irregular cooling, radiation, solar flares, subatomic particles and small meteorites.


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"Generally, in order for NASA to approve computers for space, the equipment needs to be" robust "or hardened to withstand conditions in space, Fernandez said. This physical hardening takes time and money and adds weight, so HP took a different approach to "harden" systems with software. "




Mars is about 140 million miles from Earth, and astronauts could experience greater communication delays closer to getting to the red planet. It could take 20 minutes for connections to reach Earth and another 20 minutes for responses to reach astronauts, according to Hebb.


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NASA's long-term goal is to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s. The SpaceBorn computer aims to ensure that the astronauts will have enough firepower, technology, and strong communication connections when they ultimately journey to Mars.


"This launch marks the first step to the next frontier of space exploration - a mission to Mars," Fernandez told Fox News. "The astronauts on Mars will not have immediate access to high-performance computing such as those in low Earth orbit," he added.





Estimates of the duration of the Mars voyage range from six months to a year.


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"The presence of supercomputers on board the spacecraft will allow our explorers in deep space to access the data they need to meet any challenge in real time," said Fernandez. "But first we need to know how to make the colossus function flawlessly in orbit. That's what we aim to research through this experiment."

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