"We can speed up the design process while increasing flight test safety," said Paul T. Glessner, XCOR's chief aerodynamicist. "Modeling the aerodynamic stability, control and handling qualities of the vehicle on a supercomputer takes the place of expensive and time-consuming testing. We gain a better understanding of the performance and handling characteristics of the vehicle from take-off, supersonic flight, through re-entry from space."

XCOR also will use CFD++ computational-fluid-dynamics-simulation software from Metacomp Technologies in Agoura Hills to create a 3-D analytical model of the proposed vehicle and analyze its performance based on the company's design targets. The CFD analysis can simulate aerodynamic parameters such as air flow, pressure distribution which can predict vehicle lift and drag, thermal heating and vehicle trajectory.

"Metacomp Technologies is committed to being the leading provider of computational fluid dynamics tools for the aerospace and automotive industries," said Sukumar Chakravarthy, the company's founder and president. "When accuracy, reliability and speed are critical for product design, CFD++ is the software tool of choice for simulation and analysis of fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and reacting flow problems, from very low speeds to hypersonic flows.

"We are always called upon to tackle the toughest CFD problems, attempted without success by other CFD software providers. Today, in the aerospace industry, the degree of accuracy and reliability required from simulations has reached new heights presenting challenges that Metacomp Technologies is eminently willing and able to help overcome."

XCOR said the required size and high fidelity of the Xerus simulations will benefit from the large-memory NUMA architecture and processing power of the Altix server. It is driven by Intel Itanium 2 processors and runs the Linux OS. The results of the CFD++ simulations will guide XCOR engineers in developing the aerodynamic shape of the vehicle and other important design features.

"The high-performance computing technology in SGI's Altix systems is ideal for a variety of engineering applications and provides unique benefits for CFD-driven advanced product development," said Dave Parry of SGI. "We are pleased to join with XCOR and Metacomp Technologies in the development and deployment of a new generation of vehicles for space flight."

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