Jan 18 1978
From The Space Library
The 16th Aerospace Sciences Meeting at MSFC of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics with nearly 700 registrants concluded with posthumous presentation of the space systems award to Dr. Werner von Braun, first MSFC director. Former astronaut Maj. Gen. Thomas Stafford had accepted the Haley spaceflight award on behalf of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project crew. (Marshall Star, Jan 18/78, 1)
MSFC announced that NASA had instituted a NASA End-to-End Data Systems (NEEDS) project to ease the enormous burden of storing data collected by its satellites and aircraft. NASA's public archives had been growing by 100 000 000 000 bits of data per day; during the 1980s and beyond, spacecraft like Spacelab, earth-orbiting satellites, and planetary probes would produce a staggering quantity of data, creating a major problem of storage and availability to users. NEEDS would decrease processing time and storage space, reduce maintenance costs, and provide better user access. Four field centers would participate in the project, MSFC being responsible for developing a medium to replace magnetic tape and microfilm. Working with Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., MSFC had developed the optical mass memory system, using a dry process film that could store as much data as on magnetic tapes or microfilm in 100 times less space, and could make access 100 times faster. The goal of NEEDS would be a tenfold reduction in the present $300-million-per-year storage/maintenance cost, and a thousandfold increase in information return to users. Marshall Star, Jan 18/78, 4)
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