Irish tech heads into space on Discovery

13-07-2005

by Deirdre McArdle

Technology developed by Irish firm Skytek will play an important role in the Space Shuttle Discovery's historic 'Return to Flight' mission on Wednesday.

For the first time ever, NASA will use Irish technology during a space mission. The planned mission will see Discovery's seven-member crew testing new equipment and procedures to increase the safety of the space shuttle and delivering spare parts, water and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).

Skytek's technology, an electronic manual software system, will work to guide the astronauts on the ISS through all kinds of procedures, from the routine of putting on a space suit to preparing for the docking of the shuttle.

Astronauts will be able to access the Skytek system, called iPV (International Procedural Viewer), via laptops, and NASA ground control will be able to send new procedures to the team as required and log all activity conducted. The system currently stores 3,000 NASA procedures.

As well as walking astronauts through everyday routines, the Skytek system also guides them through emergency procedures such as recovering from the loss of a major system such as altitude control.

"The Skytek system is important to the mission for three fundamental reasons," said Mike Hurt, NASA Procedures Manager for the ISS. "It further ensures the safety of our astronauts and enhances the efficiency in which they can carry out procedures. Also, its use of XML technology will represent a cost savings for ground personnel by making procedure changes easier to implement."

Originally developed for the European Space Agency, Skytek's web-based technology was adopted by NASA in 2003. Skytek claims the technology is unique in the marketplace and is currently considering other implementations of the technology outside of the space industry.

"This is space age technology, but because it is such a unique and powerful tool, it can be applied outside of the space industry quite readily," said Dr. Sarah Bourke, CEO, Skytek. "Critical tasks in sectors such as aviation and oil exploration also require tightly controlled procedures and our technology can have similar safety and procedural benefits for these companies."

Discovery's mission, which is NASA's first since Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed on its return to Earth in 2003 killing its crew of seven, is expected to take place at approximately 9 pm (GMT) on Wednesday and is scheduled to last about 12 days. There is a lot at stake with this particular mission; returning the Space Shuttle Discovery to flight and completing the ISS are widely regarded as NASA's first steps towards preparing for longer journeys to the moon, Mars and beyond.