Nasa signs up supercomputing support

Nasa has signed a deal with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) for the provision of supercomputing support over the next decade.

The deal is initially for two years, with eight one-year options, and could be worth up to $597m (£290m) if all the options are taken up by the US space agency.

Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) will provide support services to Nasa's Advanced Supercomputing Division at the Ames Research Center, which operates some of the most advanced and powerful supercomputers in the world.

The deal will also see support — as well as high-performance computing research — given to the Nasa Center for Computational Sciences at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

CSC has been working with Nasa for around 40 years.

Tom Anderson, president of CSC's North American public-sector division, said the company is pleased to be helping advance the agency's "mission in pioneering the future of space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research".