THE BATTALION
College Station, Texas Thursday, September 13, 1962
College, NASA Join Forces
To Conduct Moon Research
Research that may lead to de
veloping an instrument capable of
analyzing the elemental composi
tion of the moon’s surface is un
derway here sponsored by the Na
tional Aeronautics and Space Ad-
,ministration and the Division of
Isotope Development, Atomic En
ergy Commission.
To conduct the study an $84,800
grant from NASA, supplementing
an AEC grant of $125,000, has
been made to Dr. Richard Wain-
erdi, director of the Activation
Analysis Research Labortaory.
The first year’s activity on this
project is aimed at determining-
feasibility of remote automatic
neutron activation analysis tech
niques for learning the elemental
composition of the moon... It will
involve use of A&M’s nuclear re
actor and the Data Processing
Center by the Activation Analysis
Research Laboratory.
Approximately 27 research en
gineers, scientists and graduate
students will work on the project
being conducted for NASA’s of
fice of lunar and planetary re
search and the AEC’s isotope de- I
velopment division.
The project will include devel
oping a prototype of a miniatur
ized analyzing instrument as well
as formulating samples of artifi
cial moon material—based on best
estimates of probable lunar ele
ments—for trail analysis.
“The grant for this project is
based on techniques for computer-
coupled automatic activation anal
ysis which were developed in the
Activation Analysis Research Lab
oratory under sponsorship of the
DID-AEC during the past three
years,” Wainerdi said.
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Welcome
Aggies!
★ VARSITY ★
BARBER SHOP
Across
From the
North Gate
Campus
College Station
Centennial Staged
This covered wagon, pictured during a parade in downtown
Bryan, was only one of a host of activities here over the
summer during Bryan’s centennial observance. Other activ
ities included a “Gallant Men of Texas” pageant, the selec
tion of a Centennial Queen, beard-growing and fiddling con
tests and an antique car race.
Computer Science Program
Opens Here For Graduates
A graduate program in com
puter science will formally get
underway here this fall.
The new graduate program, de
signed for men with bachelor de
grees in engineering, mathematics
or physics, will lead to a Master
of Computer Science degree.
Working with the new program
in the Department of Industrial
Engineering will be Robert L.
Smith Jr., head of the Data Proc
essing Center.
The new program—one of the
first of its type in the South—
was formally approved last spring
by the Texas Commission on High
er Education.
Up to .20 graduate students a
year will be accepted in the new
program. Smith said many indus
tries are calling for computer
science graduates and the Army,
Navy and Air Force are interested
in sending selected officers to en
ter the program.
Focal point of the new graduate
degree program will be the Data
Processing Center, which is packed
with more than $4 million worth
of computer equipment.
Curriculum for a master of com
puter science degree includes grad
uate courses in numerical analy
sis, computer methods, computer
languages, numerical methods in
differential equations, computer
methods in applied sciences and
logic of information processing.
Data Processing
Adds Tape System
Installation of an additional
computer tape system in the Data
Processing Center has quadrupled
the speed of magnetic tape com
puting capabilities here.
Addition of the IBM 1401 — a
tape oriented, completely transis
torized computer with 4,000 digit
storage capacity — permits the
Data Processing Center to increase
capabilities of its IBM 709, said
Robert L. Smith Jr., head of the
multi-million dollar computer cen
ter.
“It speeds up our input and out
put of magnetic tapes by a factor
of four to one,” he- commented,
adding that satellite equipment
for the 1401 vastly increases the
efficiency of the 709’s capabilities.
Since its establishment in 1958,
the Data Processing Center, oper
ated by the Texas Engineering
Experiment Station, has become a
focal-point of activity for both
education and research.
Valuable Equipment
It is packed with high speed
computers and related equipment
that is valued at more than $4
million. Only three other schools
have comparable facilities — Mas
sachusetts Institute of Technolo
gy, the University of California
and the University of Washing
ton.
In addition to the IBM 709 and
the newly-installed IBM 1401, the
center also has a $250,000 DYS-
TAC analog computer that is
highly important to meteorological
research on campus.
While it does work for virtually
every research department at
A&M, the center is also kept busy
with computing projects contract
ed through the Texas Engineering
Experiment Station by public util
ities, the petroleum industry and
the federal government.
Some 40 full-time employees are
required for operation of the cen
ter—key punch operators who per
forate the cards used in program
ming the work of computers, pro
grammers, tabulating equipment,
operators, computer specialists
and supervisory personnel.
Star performer of the Center is
the 709 tha^ consists of 21 units
capable of reading and writing at
a rate of 15,000 characters per
second. Simultaneously it com
putes information at the rate of
40,000 arithmetical operations per
second.
The IBM 1401 will be used ex
tensively in industrial engineering
courses in data processing, espe
cially for the new graduate pro
gram in computer sciences just
established here.
Along with the addition of the
1401 data processing system is the
1402 Card Reader and Punch. It
can punch cards at a rate of 250
cards per minute or two and a
half times any previous machine
here. It reads information moi’e
than three times faster than what
was used previously, Smith said.
The 1403 Printer will make in
formation available four times
faster, printing 600 lines per min
ute with 132 characters per line,
he added.
Maui Si reel
Through Brym\
Now Repaved | £
Students wandering innuBi
ly into Bryan will be v
surprised to find a longsBj.jj
of the city’s Main Street
and repaved.
the
Work on the project pi n ‘
June 6 and was concluded tvOi £
the last week of August, |
ithai
The street was widened I
gue
walks were repaved and
and parking spaces were piM en ]
ed in the middle of the JL...,
In addition, parking »|
were not re-installed at thei
of a group of downtown;
chants. They may be inslt
later but the city is presi
experimenting with permanc
doing aw ay with the metm
The construction, whiclt
$130,000, was a part of ant
all paving project in thedi
town area sponsored jointl;
the city and merchants.
Welcome Aggiel
DO-NUT & COFFEE SHOP
Complete Fountain Service
OPEN 6:00 A.M.—l :00 A.M.
3312 S. College Ave.
Air Conditioned
HAMBURGERS — SANDWICHES — MALTS
NEW THIS YEAR
To relieve a badly overcrowded situation in our text book department -
%
which is doing a volume more than double that done the first year (1955-56) it
was moved to its present quarters - we have moved ALL Freshman text books
to the lounge in Legett Hall.
Here, courteous attendants will assist you in selecting your books from open
stock or in locating your lay-a-way package. In minutes you can be on your
way.
Legett Hall is adjacent to the Exchange Store Building.
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ore
In Its Fifty Fifth Year of Serving Texas Aggies'
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