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Fortran Greybeards: NASA Wants You!

posted by martyb on Thursday May 04 2017, @10:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the good-fast-cheap dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

NASA wants scientific computer experts to take a look at one of its oldest software suites in the hope they can speed it up.

The code in question is called "FUN3D" and was first developed in the 1980s. It's still an important part of the agency's computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capability, and had its most recent release in September 2016.

The agency is now sponsoring a competition with the aim of getting it to go at least 10 times faster. If you can crank it up to ten thousand times faster – without any loss of accuracy – all the better.

Michael Hetle, program executive at NASA's Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program (TACP) explains that "some concepts are just so complex, it's difficult for even the fastest supercomputers to analyse these models in real time. Achieving a speed-up in this software by orders of magnitude hones the edge we need to advance our technology to the next level".

[Update: Original story title was taken directly from the referenced article; updated to remove condescension. --martyb]

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:14PM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:14PM (#504578)

    ... what?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:20PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:20PM (#504584)

    Goddamn it how hard is this concept to understand: the same people who are old enough to have Fortran experience are also old enough to be war protesters who wouldn't help the federal government for any reason whatsoever.

    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:28PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:28PM (#504588)

      Wow ... that's a stretch.
      Thanks for context, I guess...

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Roger Murdock on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:30PM (1 child)

      by Roger Murdock (4897) on Thursday May 04 2017, @11:30PM (#504589)

      I think the "What?" comment was more about what on earth you think NASA has to do with starting wars and invading countries for oil. Although to be fair I haven't read NASA's mission statement.

      • (Score: 2) by mmcmonster on Friday May 05 2017, @02:22PM

        by mmcmonster (401) on Friday May 05 2017, @02:22PM (#504859)

        Although to be fair I haven't read NASA's mission statement.

        It's called mission creep.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @01:29AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @01:29AM (#504626)

      That is most retarded. Feel free to protest making roads as well.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @02:31AM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @02:31AM (#504649)

        You're the retard who can't comprehend the difference between constructive (roads) and destructive (war).

        • (Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Friday May 05 2017, @05:43AM

          by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Friday May 05 2017, @05:43AM (#504702)

          I double-checked after reading the GP: we are talking NASA, not the NSA.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @05:44AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @05:44AM (#504704)

          So you associate NASA with the later?

          Pathetic.

    • (Score: 2) by number6x on Friday May 05 2017, @02:33PM

      by number6x (903) on Friday May 05 2017, @02:33PM (#504868)

      Hippy greybeards from the 1960's, possibly.
      Greybeards from the 1980's didn't have any wars to protest. Grenada was over too quickly.
      Besides, young people in the 1980's were too busy selling junk bonds, looking out for #1 and learning that 'greed is good'.

      The 1980's was the era of young college republicans, greed, cocaine and born again salvation.