When NASA needs to simulate the airflow over a Mars lander at hypersonic speeds, or model the formation of a hurricane across the Pacific, or calculate the orbital mechanics of a deep space mission, the job often runs at Moffett Field. The NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division, located at NASA Ames Research Center in the heart of Silicon Valley, has been the agency's primary supercomputing resource for decades. Its machines model aerodynamics, simulate space exploration scenarios, study weather patterns and ocean currents, and support the design of aircraft and spacecraft.
The NAS Division occupies facilities at Ames Research Center, which itself sits on the former site of Naval Air Station Moffett Field. The location is fitting: the same airfield that once launched Navy patrol aircraft and housed dirigibles now hosts some of the most powerful computers on Earth, processing simulations that would have taken lifetimes on the computers available when the base was built. The division supports NASA missions across the agency, providing computational resources that enable research teams to model physical phenomena too complex for analytical solutions.
Ames Research Center has a long history with simulation. Its wind tunnels, some of the largest in the world, once provided the primary means of testing aerodynamic designs. Supercomputing extended that capability into the digital realm, allowing engineers to simulate conditions that physical wind tunnels cannot reproduce: reentry heating, turbulent flow at hypersonic speeds, the behavior of parachutes in the thin atmosphere of Mars. The NAS Division's supercomputers have grown from early vector processors to modern petascale systems, each generation expanding the fidelity and scale of possible simulations.
The NAS Division operates in a curious relationship with its surroundings. Mountain View is home to Google, and the broader South Bay hosts thousands of technology companies. But NASA's supercomputing serves purposes that commercial technology rarely addresses: understanding planetary systems, predicting natural disasters, designing vehicles for environments where no customer feedback is possible. The division represents the federal government's continued presence in Silicon Valley's computing ecosystem, a reminder that the region's technology heritage includes taxpayer-funded science alongside venture-backed startups.
The NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division is at 37.42°N, 122.06°W at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field. The Ames campus is one of the most distinctive aerial landmarks in the South Bay, with massive wind tunnels and hangars. Nearby airport: Moffett Federal Airfield (KNUQ). Best viewed at 2,000-4,000 ft AGL.