How A NASA Open Source Startup Could Change The IT Universe

Tang and velcro aren't the only things that NASA helped to invent that are part of our modern world. NASA has also played a pivotal role in the emergence of cloud technology that could reshape the vast IT world here on Earth.

Chris Kemp, the first CTO of IT at NASA, helped to lead an effort at the U.S. space agency to create a cloud compute platform. The original 9,000 lines of code, known as Nova, have become the cornerstone of the OpenStack cloud project. OpenStack now has the backing of major IT vendors, including IBM, Dell, HP, Cisco, AT&T and Intel. Kemp left NASA in 2011 and is currently the CEO of Nebula, a startup that is set to deliver commercially supported OpenStack gear.

In an exclusive interview with InternetNews Kemp explained how the open source cloud effort came to be and how NASA is already reaping the rewards...