[Info-vax] rx2800i2 sales/support window changes

[Bill Gunshannon]

In article <0b8cb0cb-3c85-4a9e-93a0-0b94a5d18f97 at googlegroups.com>,
	BillPedersen <pedersen at ccsscorp.com> writes:
> On Friday, February 14, 2014 11:38:07 AM UTC-5, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> I assume by now everyone has seen the news about Google taking
>> over Moffett Field in California.  Many moons ago when we were
>> discussing government use of VMS and people were convinced I
>> was VMS' main detractor I pointed out that there was a simulation
>> project running on the VAX (I assume because of hardware constraints)
>> headquartered out of Moffett Field with a (small) number of remote
>> sites including Huntsville, AL.  Well, it looks like this has also
>> gone the way of the dodo as the governemtn is abandoning Moffett
>> Field.  Wonder what happened to the equipment?  Does our resident
>> NASA rep know anything about this?
>> 
>> bill
> The news from NASA does not sound like it is going away:
>    http://www.nasa.gov/ames/gsa-nasa-competitively-select-preferred-lessee/#.Uv5JyM4z1AY
> "GSA, NASA Competitively Select Planetary Ventures LLC to Begin Lease Negotiations for Rehabilitation of Hangar One and Use of Moffett Federal Airfield
> "February 10, 2014
> "The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and NASA have selected Planetary Ventures LLC as the preferred lessee on a lease to rehabilitate historic Hangar One and to manage Moffett Federal Airfield, currently managed by NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. The lease will put Hangar One to new use and eliminate NASA's management costs of the airfield."
> NASA Ames Research Center was a fairly decent DEC customer in its day.  I spent many days there with customers.  At one time there were several software and hardware resident engineers on site.  Moffett Field was  not solely dedicated to NASA as it was Naval Air Station with the constant changing of the "guard" of Orion P3's coming and going to do patrol off the West Coast.  It has been many years since I have been around there and it sounds like=
>  there are changes but it does not sound like they are "shutdown".

I guess it depends on interpretation of all the news stories.  What I got
out of it was that NASA wanted out because they no longer were using it.
Part of it is to be restored as a historical site (Hanger 1) and the field
itself is going to be used as a commercial field which Google's people
are going to manage. (Seemed like it was primarily going to be for
corporate jets..)  But NASA use seems to be over. And may have been for
some years now.

And I seriuously doubt the Google contract will include keeping that
VAX going as it runs neither Android or ChromeOS.  

I do wonder what kind of a simulator it was running, though.  Considering
that the one of the remote sites was Huntsville it had to be something
for NASA.  I assume the others were probably Houston, Greenbelt and where
else?  Maybe Cape Canaveral?

bill


-- 
Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton   |
Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>