NASA Introduces Athena, Its Most Powerful and Efficient Supercomputer
NASA has unveiled its latest supercomputer, Athena, a cutting-edge system built to support a new generation of space missions and scientific research. Part of the agency’s High-End Computing Capability program, Athena significantly expands computing resources to help scientists and engineers tackle some of the most complex challenges in space, aeronautics, and scientific exploration.
Located at NASA’s Modular Supercomputing Facility in Ames Research Center, California, Athena outperforms previous NASA systems, including Aitken and Pleiades, in both power and efficiency. The system, made available to users in January following beta testing, delivers over 20 petaflops of peak performance—enabling trillions of calculations per second—while reducing supercomputing utility costs.
“Exploration has always pushed NASA to the limits of computational capabilities,” said Kevin Murphy, Chief Science Data Officer and lead for the High-End Computing Capability portfolio. “With Athena, we can provide tailored computing resources that meet the evolving needs of our missions.”
Athena is crucial for simulating rocket launches, designing next-generation aircraft, and training large-scale AI models capable of analyzing massive datasets to uncover new scientific insights. NASA researchers, as well as external scientists supporting NASA programs, can apply for access to the system.
The name Athena, chosen through a March 2025 contest among NASA’s High-End Computing workforce, honors the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, who is also the half-sister of Artemis.
Managed by NASA’s Office of the Chief Science Data Officer, the High-End Computing Capability portfolio combines supercomputers with hybrid solutions like commercial cloud platforms, allowing teams to select the optimal computing environment for simulations, AI development, and large-scale data analysis.
As NASA’s missions grow more complex, Athena will continue to expand the agency’s supercomputing capabilities. By combining speed, efficiency, and intelligent computing, Athena lays the digital groundwork for the next era of exploration and discovery.
