ACADEMIA

A special issue of the IOS Press journal Scientific Programming introduces some new capabilities for advanced modeling, simulation and analysis in science and engineering. The issue ‘High Performance Computing for Mission-Enabling Space Applications’ is guest edited by Charles D. Norton of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology. The capabilities, developed at JPL, are related to electric propulsion plume simulations, large-scale rover navigation simulations, large-scale mosaic generation from Spitzer surveys, and ocean/sea-ice interaction sensitivity studies. Numerous other applications have also been pursued to address the needs in computational science and engineering. Advanced modeling, simulation and analysis are essential to JPL mission success. Spanning all phases from mission conceptual design, spacecraft systems engineering, instrument development, navigation, science data product generation, and public outreach, computing has become ubiquitous and the demands for increased capability are growing rapidly. JPL and Caltech helped pioneer and establish the area of supercomputing in the mid-80s with development of the Cosmic Cube (C. Seitz). As the capability goals of JPL mission and technology projects grow in complexity, the utilization of high capability computing will allow more thorough and in-depth engineering design trade-space analyses, faster and more accurate modeling for science understanding, virtual exploration of new mission and instrument concepts, and a more complete understanding of the interplay between the spacecraft and the space environment, to name a few. The Editor also contributed to the previous issue of Scientific Programming on the 50th anniversary of the Fortran programming language, edited by Boleslaw Szymanski, professor of computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.