When the NASA Mars Rover known as Curiosity landed on the red planet August 5, 2012, two clusters of Dell's PowerEdge servers were there in spirit, or at least in the spirit of data, though not physically of course. The most difficult part of the mission was said to be the final landing sequence, and it was two server arrays named Nebula and Galaxy that Dell calls HPC (High Performance Computing) clusters, which were utilized to churn through the necessary data. Those two HPCs were put to use by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the role of testing and validating that final, and crucial, Mars rover landing sequence.

Out-of-this-World Ultimate Wireless Peripheral Mobile Gadget

Curiosity is the largest mobile device ever sent to explore Mars, and this website has a special section for Gadgets & Peripherals, and also reports on mobile devices that phone home. The Curiosity rover would be seem to be the ultimate wireless, peripheral, mobile gadget.

Dell HPC clusters were used by JPL to provide essential support to the Mar's rover in analyzing huge amounts of test data needed to prepare the rover for entering the Martian atmosphere and placing it safely on the planet's surface.

Here is what a Dell General Manager, Jere Carroll had to say: “We’re proud to work hand-in-hand with NASA, a true American institution that provides the world with the understanding that modern day pioneering delivers optimism and the drive to go further. This notion echoes Dell’s mission to provide customers with a full spectrum of IT hardware and services, helping them to accomplish their mission more effectively and efficiently. Most importantly, we are honored to be able to test and validate this mission’s most critical portion, landing on the Red Planet.”