Wind River Systems, Inc. has been selected by Honeywell Aerospace to support the development of NASA's New Millennium Program Space Technology 8 (ST8) Dependable Multiprocessor. The contract marks the first time a Linux platform has been selected by Honeywell for a space mission. Honeywell Aerospace is the prime contractor for NASA's ST8 Dependable Multiprocessor project. Wind RiverŪ Platform for Network Equipment, Linux Edition, will be the underlying operating system to support the processing of science and experiment data onboard the ST8 spacecraft.
The Dependable Multiprocessor is a game-changing technology that will create a new generation of "smart" spacecraft and robotics for future exploration missions conducted by NASA. Composed of a state-of-the-art commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)-based supercomputer architecture capable of incorporating both on-chip and FPGA-based algorithmic co-processors, Dependable Multiprocessor technology can autonomously and adaptively configure the level of fault tolerance applied to the COTS-based computer system in response to constantly changing mission environments and the criticality of the mission application. The Dependable Multiprocessor will allow the spacecraft to process and analyze its own data to make instant decisions about what is observed without having to send the information to Earth and wait for a reply.
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