Of course NASA is just one of the latest high profile mainframe decommissionings. In 2009 The U.S. House of Representatives took its last mainframe offline. At the time Network World wrote: “The last mainframe supposedly enjoyed “quasi-celebrity status” within the House data center, having spent 12 years keeping the House’s inventory control records and financial management data, among other tasks. But it was time for a change, with the House spending $30,000 a year to power the mainframe and another $700,000 each year for maintenance and support.”

via Layer 8: NASA unplugs last mainframe.

Cue violins.