RocketPort In-Server-Cards - NASA

Challenge

NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, frequently conducts scientific experiments for private and public companies, organizations, and government agencies. One of the toughest challenges that they faced recenlty was creating an UMV (unmanned vehicle) for scientific research to be used in extremely harsh environments that could send back data to a ground station. They needed to create a scientific research aircraft that will be able to handle the harsh elements of 30,000+ feet altitude with the ability to reliably transmit data to a land station more than 4,000 miles away.

Technology Solution

NASA created this unmanned scientific research center to monitor ozone depletion, global warming, hurricane patterns, and other various scientific data. The task of creating an UMV (unmanned vehicle) to transmit data back to a land station was a completely different challenge.

NASA designed their NASA DC-8 UMV strictly using top-of-the-line hardware components and tested its performance for months before its first launch over Kiruna, Sweden. NASA chose Comtrol’s RocketPort PCI cards to fly on-board the NASA DC-8 for this particular research project. NASA chose the product due to its excellent performance in climate-induced testing. Comtrol’s card was subjected to extreme temperatures, zero gravity, and durability tests. The product passed with flying colors.

NASA needed a multiport serial card in their computer aboard the NASA DC-8 to connect multiple scientific peripherals aboard the UMV. These instruments included:

• Temperature sensors
• Light sensors
• Printers
• Warning Indicators

To transmit, NASA used satellite communication technology to send the data back to a ground station where it could be gathered, sorted, and analyzed. The data is being used to help determine the depletion of the OZONE layer, to better understand how hurricanes work, and to determine the effects of global warming.