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Spinoff story
Parallel Processing System
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
In order to process very high resolution image data from spacecraft sensors, Goddard Space Flight Center commissioned the development of a Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) based upon simultaneous processing of image picture elements (pixels) rather than serial processing. It resulted in a considerable increase in computational speed. MasPar Computer Corporation's MasPar MP-1 incorporates this technology, allowing users to attack a variety of computationally-intensive problems. *The MP-1 is no longer manufactured but has been replaced by the MP-2, a more advanced model.