CCO - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections.
More -
https://iiif.si.eduView ManifestView in Mirador ViewerCCO - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections.
More -
https://iiif.si.eduView ManifestView in Mirador ViewerUsage conditions may apply
This is a CRAY-1, an early example of a class of computers called "supercomputers." It was built by Cray Research, Inc. of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and installed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. Unlike most computers, it was hand-wired, and its circuits were arranged in a three-quarters circle. Both helped increase the speeds at which signals travel from one part of the computer to another. Hefty power supplies are located below each of the circuit bays, and the padding on them suggests a piece of lounge furniture.
At NCAR, the machine was used between 1977 and 1983, where it performed complex calculations involving the numerical modeling of weather phenomena. As the speeds of ordinary workstations increased over the years, it became obsolete and was donated to the Smithsonian.
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
INSTRUMENTS-Computers, General Purpose
Manufacturer
Cray Research, Inc. Dimensions
3-D: 144.8 × 139.7 × 195.6cm, 1730.5kg (4 ft. 9 in. × 4 ft. 7 in. × 6 ft. 5 in., 3815lb.) Materials
Frame: Aluminum, with circuit boards attached. Wires in interior. Inventory Number
A19880565000
Credit Line
Gift of Cray Research, Inc.
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Open Access (CCO)
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.
You may also like
Are You Sure You Want to Donate This?
October 05, 2012
Beyond The Limits
National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Past Exhibition