Floating around without the confines of gravity in a space module is the easy part of being a scientist in orbit but how can an astronaut have the expertise to carry out hundreds of different experiments at the same time? The answer lies in a computer which has the scientific knowledge of a specialised scientist to assist the astronaut in experiments as well as connecting the expert behind each complex experiment to the space laboratory via a web link.

Irish software development company, Skytek Ltd, has been awarded the contract by the European Space Agency to create a web interface standard, which is being developed for use by astronauts on board the International Space Station to control scientific experiments.

The system WebACT (Advanced Computer Through Terminal) aims to solve the conundrum of trying to carry out a large variety of experiments across all disciplines by a few scientists in a confined space.

The company is using off-the-shelf software such as Internet Explorer and XML for the system, which will allow scientists on earth and in space to work and communicate simultaneously on the same experiments.

The software being developed by Skytek is expected to be used in the 2004 launch to the international space station of modules to carry out scientific experiments in a gravity-free environment.

Mr Paul Kiernan, technical director of Skytek, said the initial software prototype being developed by Skytek was for two experiments involving the testing of muscle atrophy or wastage in humans and on protein crystal growth in a gravity free environment.

He said a new set of experiments would be sent up to the module every six months so the astronauts would need a single generic interface which was adaptable to any type of experiment.

The software interface will be programmed to contain instructions and details on procedures to be followed covering every eventuality of each experiment.

Mr Kiernan said at the moment Skytek is using a software simulator to replicate the data which would normally flow from the experiments.

Not only is the contract an endorsement of the technical expertise of the company but the interfaces that are being developed have wide ranging applications in the medical and scientific device industry.

Mr Kiernan said both medical and scientific students could be trained using the system which simulates the experiment and would allow supervisors to interact, instruct and correct students via a computer.

The fact that the software is Internet-based means it is perfectly suited to the distance learning which larger bandwidth on the Internet will offer for collaborative experiments involving scientists all over the world.

Dr Sarah Bourke, Skytek's operations director said she believed the emerging web interface technology that the company is developing has the potential to revolutionise the computer based training market in the area of content generation and development.

The ESA provide significant support to companies to commercialise the technology that contracted companies produce for their space missions and Ms Bourke said the agency's massive client base had opened many doors for the company.

The company are supported by Enterprise Ireland and the contract was won with their assistance.

Skytek intends to raise between £1 million and £2 million in investment funds before the end of 2000.

The company which has grown from a one man operation to employ 10 people in the last year has strong links with the Moscow Institute of Maths and Physics, a centre for some of the top mathematicians, physicists and computer scientist in Russia.

Most of the people from Russia who work for Skytek are physicists who have extraordinary programming skills according to Mr Kiernan.

He said that although the ESA has lived in the shadow of NASA for many years, at least in the public view, through the launching of highly profitable satellite networks, it has built up huge resources for its projects.

Skytek is working on the contract with partners, Origin, a Philips company, and NLR, the National Aerospace Laboratory in the Netherlands.

Origin will control the project management side of the contract while the NLR will test the software to ensure its reliability and robustness.

Mr Kiernan founded the company then called, Synaptic, in 1998 for designing computer-based training software and was selected from a database of scientists by the ESA as being the best equipped to develop the module's software.

If the software meets the requirements of the ESA it is envisaged that it will be adopted as the standard system for control of experiments in the agency's space modules.