Columbia (supercomputer)

Columbia was a NASA supercomputer built by SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) in 2004. It was named in memory of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew, who perished during the STS-107 mission in 2003. Deployed at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, Columbia was initially one of the world's fastest supercomputers, reaching a peak performance of 51.87 teraflops on the Linpack benchmark.

The system was built using SGI Altix servers, utilizing Intel Itanium 2 processors. It was designed to significantly enhance NASA's ability to conduct complex scientific and engineering simulations, particularly in the areas of aeronautics, space exploration, and Earth science. Specifically, Columbia was used for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of aircraft and spacecraft, climate modeling, and visualization of scientific data.

Columbia underwent upgrades over its operational lifetime, increasing its processing power and storage capacity. It served as a crucial tool for NASA scientists and engineers for many years, contributing to advancements in various research areas. The supercomputer was eventually decommissioned in 2013, having been superseded by more advanced computing systems. However, its legacy remains as a significant milestone in high-performance computing and its contribution to NASA's mission of exploration and discovery.