|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
New NASA venture aims to make software reliable
By Matthew Fordahl
AP Technology Writer
posted: 02:17 pm ET
12 December 2000
|
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The agency that landed men on the Moon, is building a space station and has sent robots to Mars is tackling another tricky high-tech challenge: Developing computer software that doesn't crash. Ever. NASA, Carnegie Mellon University and a dozen high-tech companies announced Monday the formation of a consortium whose primary mission is to eliminate failure in software vital to the nation. Systems to be targeted by the High Dependability Computing Consortium include those that play a crucial role in air-traffic control, the space program, banking and healthcare -- "software that you depend your life on," said Henry McDonald, director of NASA's Ames Research Center. "The embedding of software into the whole fabric of the United States...introduced a level of dependency that demands utterly reliable, utterly dependable systems,'' he said. Research promoted by the group probably won't lead to better home computers any time soon but could result in safer skies, better healthcare and successful space missions, organizers said. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is no stranger to buggy software. Last year, the $165 million Mars Polar Lander crashed on the Red Planet after a glitch caused an early shutoff of its descent engines. Twelve information technology companies -- including IBM, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft -- will work with Carnegie Mellon and NASA to develop the consortium and its agenda. Its first planning meeting is scheduled for January. The consortium will try to develop systems outside the constraints of Wall Street, said Ray Lane, a former Oracle Corp. president and a Carnegie Mellon trustee who is helping lead the group. NASA funded a Carnegie Mellon proposal to develop the consortium with a $500,000 grant. The consortium represents the first concrete step in the Pittsburgh-based university's plan to develop a presence in Silicon Valley.
|
|
|
|
|
