|
BOULDER, Colo., January 26, 2004. NASA Langley Vehicle Analysis Branch is using a Spectra T950 tape library to store valuable trajectory flight data from NASA's recent Spirit MER (Mars Exploration Rover) entry into the Mars atmosphere and landing on the surface. This data is valuable because the MER-Opportunity lander will do a similar entry and landing on the opposite side of Mars on Jan. 24, 2004 -- three weeks after Spirit -- and information from Spirit's entry can be used to adjust Opportunity's entry to increase the chances of success.
Because of the requirement to test all changes, the MER team only had about 12 days to assess the data from Spirit, determine potential changes and then test the changes before providing the information to the flight software coders. The Tape T950 was chosen, after "We chose the Spectra T950 after researching competing libraries because of its high performance, density and reasonable cost," said Prasun Desai, Langley's MER project lead. "We've been able to significantly improve backup speed with the highly recommended enterprise tape library."
NASA Langley chose a Spectra T950 with LTO-2 tape drives to backup space, aircraft and other scientific data, including trajectory data from its January 2004 MER mission. Data is sent from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where it is then backed up by the Spectra T950 tape library. This provides quick recovery of the data, and guards against the loss of data on the working disks coupled with an inability to re-receive the data from JPL.
"Spectra Logic has been delivering innovative storage products for nearly 25 years," said Nathan Thompson, Spectra Logic's chief executive officer. "The Spectra T950's radically different architecture with its scalability and TeraPack®-based design is changing the world of storage. Spectra Logic is proud to have been able to make a small contribution to NASA's very successful Mars mission."
The next time you get on a plane or watch a U.S. space launch, picture in your mind coastal Virginia and the city of Hampton, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It's the home of NASA's Langley Research Center, 800 acres of cutting-edge aerospace technology.
Langley continues to forge new frontiers in aviation and space research as it has since 1917, when it was established as the nation's first civilian aeronautics laboratory. Langley's mission and contributions to aerospace, atmospheric sciences and technology commercialization are improving the way the world lives.
Langley leads NASA initiatives in aviation safety, quiet aircraft technology, small aircraft transportation and aerospace vehicles system technology. It supports NASA space programs with atmospheric research and technology testing and development. Its research has a significant impact on the global economy, making the skies safer, quieter and more efficient. For more information, visit www.larc.nasa.gov .
For more on Spectra, visit www.spectralogic.com .
Military & Aerospace Electronics
| 
Community 
| View all PennWell sites | View all PennWell events
Add RSS Feed