Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This is part of an experimental computer, developed in the mid 1980s by the Goodyear Aerospace Corporation for the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The computer's name derives from its ability to operate on large arrays of data in parallel (i.e. on many numbers at once). By contrast, computers of conventional design perforn operations on one or at most a few pieces of data per cycle. One intended use for such a computer was the analysis of large amounts of data from remote sensing satellites.

The Massively Parallel Processor represented one of several approaches to the problem of processing data in parallel. Nearly all modern supercomputers use parallel processing, although not all follow this machine's architecture.

Transferred from NASA to the Museum in 1995.

 Display Status

This object is on display in James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type INSTRUMENTS-Computers, General Purpose Manufacturer Goodyear Aerospace Corporation
 Alternate Name Massively Parallel Processor Expansion Unit Inventory Number A19960046001 Credit Line Transferred from NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.