BEA WebLogic to run NASA's collaborative information portal

The BEA-powered portal is designed to distribute data and information to NASA personnel and science team members at Mission Control, while two robotic rovers collect and transmit data from the Martian surface. NASA is scheduled to launch the rovers between May and July, and they are expected to arrive on Mars in January 2004.

"NASA's selection of the BEA WebLogic Platform crowns the series of accolades the solution has been receiving from global corporations," said Diyaa Zebian, Regional Manager, eSolutions BEA, the regional representative for BEA in the Middle East. "It fills us with pride that as many as 300 of NASA's engineers and science team members will be using it to locate, view, analyze and integrate the data collected by the rovers with other mission operations information. Being selected to power a key element of mission operations is an persuasive testimony to the high standards that are associated with BEA products."

"The BEA WebLogic Platform, which has gained a number of clients worldwide, including the Middle East, is the world's most advanced platform to easily build and deploy Web services," added Zebian. "Whether used by businesses or by NASA scientists, if offers the same degree of reliability, security and precision, making it the preferred solution for different kinds of customers. The NASA choice, of course, gives BEA WebLogic a stronger seal of approval and endorsement, but the fact that thousands of satisfied customers are banking on it around the globe is a matter of great satisfaction for us."

The mission is the next step after the highly successful Pathfinder mission of 1997. The two new rovers can trek up to 100 meters per day. They will carry sophisticated instruments that will search for evidence of past liquid water and assess whether there were past environments that could have been conducive for life. The knowledge gained from the exploration of Mars could have dramatic effects on the future of humankind.

NASA selected BEA WebLogic Server TM as its portal platform after careful consideration of the portal's technical requirements. Specifically, BEA WebLogic provides superior scalability to handle the very large number of page views that are expected during the mission, and offers industry-leading performance and reliability, which are imperative to ensure that NASA is able to maximize the knowledge gained during the 90-day exploration. The portal will be part of the mission ground data systems and will help manage data that reaches Earth via NASA's Deep Space Network, an international network of antennas located in the United States, Australia and Spain.

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