A computer designed in Taiwan was sent to the International Space Station (ISS) for testing for a long-term contract, a Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology official has confirmed.
The SG100 Cloud Computer was designed by the institute after NASA opened the contract for the computer to worldwide bids, and it is capable of performing cloud-based computations and upgrading itself during space missions, the official said.
NASA selected the computer for its OA-7 mission after it passed the US space agency’s evaluations with a perfect score, the official added.
Photo courtesy of the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology
NASA launched the OA-7 mission on April 18 to supply the space station with an Orbital ATK rocket, and the SG100’s components were included in the shipment for assembly at the station.
If the SG100 passes a six-month field trial, the institute will be contracted by NASA to design its next-generation space mission computers, the official said.
The SG100 Cloud Computer program was a joint effort by the institute, Academia Sinica and National Central University.
The Institute of Nuclear Energy Research and the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Lin-kuo Branch allowed the design team to use their particle accelerator to test the computer’s performance in space-like conditions.
“Data generated by planning, design, analysis and simulation tasks involved in the process had all been evaluated by NASA experts... The final product was then subjected to NASA’s rigorous environmental testing, which the SG100 passed flawlessly,” the official said.
The design team worked with NASA on the computer used by the space station’s alpha magnetic spectrometer (AMS), a computer that has been in use at the station since 2001.
The AMS project was headed by Nobel laureate Samuel Ting, a Taiwanese-American physicist, who was also involved in the development of the SG100.
The OA-7 mission is to involve four key experiments, including testing of the SG100.
The institute last year announced that it was building a lunar lander for NASA’s Resource Prospector mission, which aims to be the first mining expedition on the moon in the early 2020s.
The lunar lander is expected to be completed by next year and the mission is expected to be launched in the early 2020s — if it is given the green light, institute officials said in July last year.
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
The Pentagon is preparing for US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Taiwan later this year, Punchbowl News reported on Monday, citing an official directly involved in the talks. US administration officials anticipate McCarthy would visit Taiwan some time in the spring, the report said. McCarthy had previously pledged to visit Taiwan if he became House speaker. He was elected speaker earlier this month. He had also said that he would have liked to join then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s delegation when she visited Taiwan in August last year. Pelosi’s 19-hour visit to Taipei marked the first time in 25 years
Taiwan’s Chou Chieh-yu (周婕妤) was crowned the Kamui WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Champion after shutting out British pool titan Allison Fisher 9-0 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the organizers said on Sunday. Following the championship win at Harrah’s Resort and Casino Atlantic City, Chou pocketed US$30,000 and became the first female competitor to hold both the 9-ball and 10-ball world titles since Briton Kelly Fisher in 2012. Chou, 36, won the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship in Austria in September last year after clinching a silver medal at last year’s World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, in July. “I’m very excited and it’s like
JOINT OPERATIONS: Participating in the IMET program, which offers professional training and education to military personnel, would boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities The US government is appropriating funding to help Taiwan participate in its International Military Education & Training (IMET) program to enhance interoperability and capabilities for joint operations of the Taiwanse and US militaries. The funding for Taiwan’s participation in the program is mentioned in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, a US$1.7 trillion spending bill funding the US federal government for the fiscal year 2023. It covers funding for military support for Ukraine, defense spending and regions affected by natural disasters. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that IMET is an important US
RSS