O Space computer, a Linux supercomputer built by HP to measure whether it is possible to operate high-performance hardware in space during high-radiation events, was imprisoned for a few months at the International Space Station (ISS).

According to BBC, the servers They planned to come back in October 2018However, a flaw in the Russian Soyuz rocket forced him to postpone his return journey. The mission was originally planned operate for one year, although the Spaceborne surprised everyone, from after 530 days, it continues to run smoothly.

The three servers that make up the supercomputer are mounted on the ceiling of the Destiny module on the International Space Station. To mitigate the high temperatures caused by data processing, the Spaceborne was placed in an airtight enclosure connected to the station's water cooling system.

The astronauts they used it to run experiments on the ISS. Although the initial idea was only to carry out diagnostic tests to verify the correct functioning, since November 2018 the priorities have changed.

Members of the space station reduce the time needed to send data to Earth. By doing the calculations in space, the bandwidth of the communication channel of the International Space Station with NASA would also be released. That will be vital in the mission to Mars since according to Adrian Kasbergen, HP Enterprise Content Architect, astronauts would have to wait up to 40 minutes to send and receive data from our planet.

It is expected that Spaceborne Computer may return to Earth in June 2019, although this depends on the space on the return ship. When this is achieved, NASA scientists and HP engineers will analyze the data and pave the way to send it back to the planned 2030 Mars mission.

HP Enterprise is currently exhibiting a replica at one of the Mobile World Congress pavilions. Its creators say that the cost for each of the three servers that make up the supercomputer is eight million dollars.