High Performance Computing
By Kelly McSweeney
With America's spaceflight program setting its sights on the Moon and Mars, rockets now must be powerful enough to launch spacecraft farther into space. To do this, Northrop Grumman's propulsion systems engineers use high performance computing capabilities to design the rocket boosters for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS).
"We're truly advancing humankind's capabilities and understanding of the universe," said Mark Tobias, deputy chief engineer for the SLS program and chief engineer for the Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE) program. Regarding using high performance computing, Tobias said, "In terms of time-savings and capability, it's like going from a drafting board to a CAD terminal."
"The Teton system is larger and more capable than anything we’ve had before. It’s a highly parallel computer system."
— Brad Roe, Aerothermal Analyst on the BOLE program
