Hello everyone.
My name is Tony James,
and I'm a chief architect in the CTO organisation at Red Hat.
You're probably wondering about my background.
Let me first assure you that I'm not currently in space.
I'm using a green screen to show an image from the International Space Station,
specifically the ISS National Lab.
We'll talk more about that shortly.
If you're not familiar with Red Hat,
let me just say that we're a software company with an open source development model.
What does open source development mean?
At Red Hat, we believe that the best ideas come from working together with communities in the open.
This means all the code that makes up Red Hat software is freely available to the public.
In addition,
because the code is open,
the software ends up being more secure.
Why?
Well,
if everyone can access the code,
problems can be discovered and fixed more quickly.
The other term I'd like to introduce is Edge Computing.
You're probably watching this session on your computer at home or school,
where you have access to fast internet and other things that make your computing experience pleasant.
Imagine you're in a remote location and while you still might have a computer,
the internet connection is very slow and unreliable.
Let's say this remote location doesn't have any food,
but you can take samples from the ground,
scan them into your computer and send them to a friend in another location,
who can analyse the data and tell you how to grow food.
Since we're pretending,
let's say there's a lot of data that needs to be sent, and sending it over your slow,
unreliable internet connection will take a really long time.
With edge computing,
the analysis or 'computing' takes place near the users or
data sources.
Put another way,
you can analyse the data on your own computer without having to send it somewhere else.
Now that you understand a few concepts,
let's talk about the cool stuff, Space.
In my role at Red Hat,
i'm fortunate to have the opportunity to work with organisations in the space industry,
like NASA.
NASA is involved with many space related programmes,
including the International Space Station.
Some of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station perform scientific research activities.
They try to answer questions like... What are the effects of radiation exposure in space?
How can plants use water more efficiently?
And what impact does space have on the immune system?
Do you think astronauts have access to fast and reliable internet?
On the International Space Station?
Red Hat and some of our partners collaborated with NASA to deliver
advanced computing capabilities to the International Space Station.
These capabilities helped to accelerate research activities.
Specifically,
one set of experiments was to study the microbes in water to determine if it was safe to drink.
Imagine if astronauts had to take samples,
send them to Earth and wait days or weeks for results.
I don't know about you,
but I drink lots of water every day.
So waiting would not be fun.
The Red Hat solution enables software developers on Earth to create applications
that will analyse the data and upload those applications to the computing environment on the
International Space Station.
Like our pretend scenario,
data analysis can take place locally,
providing results in minutes.
This is just one example of edge computing and Red Hat's involvement in space.
As NASA and other organisations continue to explore space,
the need for edge computing will become more critical.
You may have heard of the Artemis 1 launch back in November of 2022.
This was the first of many missions that make up the Artemis programme,
which has a long term goal of establishing a permanent lunar presence.
Can you think of ways that edge computing will benefit astronauts on the moon?
Space is an exciting area to explore.
No matter where you are on Earth,
you can look up at the night sky and see the stars and planets.
Space inspires new ways to solve challenging problems.
For example,
zero gravity can affect scientific experiments on the ISS,
which can lead to interesting results.
Space exploration also provides societal benefits.
Think of the GPS satellites that help you find your way around,
or the weather satellites that are used to monitor things like hurricanes.
What about satellite internet and TV?
At Red Hat,
we're always looking for ways our software solutions can benefit and transform
different industries.
Edge computing is just one use case.
You can find Red Hat software powering satellites,
automobiles and more.
Thanks for taking the time to watch my session!