Scientific Computing: Conquering Space

     Scientific computing allows the use of mathematics in order to analyze and test scenarios in order to gain knowledge or information on a subject. This is usually used concurrently with scientific testing in labs or experiments. The scientific computing will give a general guideline of what we think will happen and how to set everything up, and we can then test it ourselves and see if the data agrees.

A Stanford Torus Concept from nss.org

     This is often used in things related to space technology. We lack the funds to be able to field test everything we wish to blindly with no fear of consequences, so usually testing will be done on computers beforehand. Additionally, the fluctuation of variables, such as speed and direction, must be constantly analyzed by computers in space so that satellites, space shuttles, and probes have faster access to relatively accurate data. For example, a proposed design for a space habitat called a Stanford torus would take extremely large amounts of computation in order to create an experimental replica in real life. For those who don't know, a Stanford torus is a space habitat that has a ring that people could live in. This ring rotates to provide artificial gravity via centrifugal force, and a network of mirrors in the center of the ring would reflect sunlight to the ring. This would be impossible to create with our current resources, but a computer is able to create a virtual, experimental version of the torus through computation. As you can see, Computers were a huge advancement in technology and help us in advancing in a multitude of other areas, such as the field of Science.