Fortran

The Fortran Automatic Coding System for the IBM 704 (October 15, 1956), the first Programmer's Reference Manual for Fortran

Open Directory Fortran

Fortran (previously FORTRAN) is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing. Originally developed by IBM in the 1950s for scientific and engineering applications, Fortran came to dominate this area of programming early on and has been in continual use for over half a century in computationally intensive areas such as climate modeling, Finite Element Analysis, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), computational physics, financial computing, and computational chemistry.



Fortran (a portmanteau derived from The IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System) encompasses a lineage of versions, each of which evolved to add extensions to the language while retaining compatibility with previous versions. Successive versions have added support for processing of character-based data (FORTRAN 77), array programming, module-based programming and object-based programming (Fortran 90 / 95), and object-oriented and generic programming (Fortran 2003).

The legacy of FORTRAN

Since Fortran has been in use for more than fifty years, there is a vast body of Fortran in daily use throughout the scientific and engineering communities. It is the primary language for some of the most intensive supercomputing tasks, such as weather and climate modeling, computational fluid dynamics, computational chemistry, quantum chromodynamics, simulations of long-term solar system dynamics, high-fidelity evolution artificial satellite orbits, and simulation of automobile crash dynamics. Indeed, one finds that even today, half a century later, floating-point benchmarks to gauge the performance of new computer processors are still written in Fortran.

Douglas Skyrocket D-558-2

NASA Dryden Douglas Skyrocket

The Douglas Skyrocket (the D-558-2; also found, D-558-II) was a rocket and jet-powered research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy. On November 20, 1953, shortly before the 50th anniversary of powered flight, Scott Crossfield piloted the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket to Mach 2, or more than 2076 km/h, the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound.

All three of the Skyrockets had 35-degree swept wings.

Until configured for air launch, NACA 143 featured a Westinghouse J-34-40 turbojet engine rated at 3,000 pounds force (13 kN) static thrust. It carried 260 US gallons (980 L) of aviation gasoline and weighed 10,572 pounds (4,795 kg) at take-off.

NACA 144 (and NACA 143 after modification in 1955) was powered by an LR-8-RM-6 rocket engine rated at 6,000 pounds force (27 kN) static thrust. Its propellants were 345 US gallons (1,306 L) of liquid oxygen and 378 US gallons (1,431 L) of diluted ethyl alcohol. In its launch configuration, it weighed 15,787 pounds (7,161 kg).

NACA 145 had both an LR-8-RM-5 rocket engine rated at 6,000 pounds force (27 kN) static thrust and featured a Westinghouse J-34-40 turbojet engine rated at 3,000 pounds force (13 kN) static thrust. It carried 170 US gallons (644 L) of liquid oxygen, 192 US gallons (727 L) of diluted ethyl alcohol, and 260 US gallons (984 L) of aviation gasoline for a launch weight of 15,266 pounds (6,925 kg).

[edit] Aircraft serial numbers

* D-558-2 Skyrocket
o D-558-2 #1 - #37973 NACA-143, 123 flights
o D-558-2 #2 - #37974 NACA-144, 103 flights
o D-558-2 #3 - #37975 NACA-145, 87 flights

* Maximum speed: 720 mph, 1,250 mph when air-launched (1,160 km/h, 2,010 km/h when air-launched)
* Stall speed: 160.1 mph (257.7 km/h)
* Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5,030 m)
* Rate of climb: 22,400 ft/min, 11,100 ft/min under rocket power only (6,830 m/min., 3,380 m/min under rocket power only)
* Wing loading: 87.2 lb/ft² (426 kg/m²)
* Thrust/weight (jet): 0.39

Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry is an Academy Award-winning animated cartoon series of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical short subjects created, written and directed by animators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. One hundred and fourteen Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced by the MGM cartoon studio in Hollywood from 1940 until 1957, when the animation unit was closed down. These shorts are notable for having won seven Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), tieing it with Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies as the most-awarded theatrical animated series. It is widely considered one of the best animated cartoon series ever.

The following cartoons won the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Short Subject: Cartoons:

* 1943: The Yankee Doodle Mouse
* 1944: Mouse Trouble
* 1945: Quiet Please!
* 1946: The Cat Concerto
* 1948: The Little Orphan
* 1951: The Two Mouseketeers
* 1952: Johann Mouse

These cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Short Subject: Cartoons, but did not win:

* 1940: Puss Gets the Boot
* 1941: The Night Before Christmas
* 1947: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse
* 1949: Hatch Up Your Troubles
* 1950: Jerry's Cousin
* 1954: Touché, Pussy Cat!

These cartoons were nominated for the Annie Award in the Individual Achievements Category: Character Animation, but did not win:

* 1946: Springtime for Thomas
* 1955: That's My Mommy
* 1956: Muscle Beach Tom
* 2005: The KarateGuard