Irish tech hits space

An Irish firm has created new 3D software that is now being used to train Europe's top astronauts.

When Europe's first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) supply ship docks with the International Space Station next month the astronauts will be relying on skills acquired using software from an Irish firm.

The first ATV - the Jules Verne - is the result of more than €1.3 billion worth of development and will carry over seven tonnes of fuel, oxygen and other supplies to the space station. The Jules Verne will stay attached to the station until August, while its cargo is unpacked and waste from the station is loaded, before being detached to fall into the Pacific ocean.

While the three astronauts on the space station - including Dan Tani from Illinois, who is married to Kinsale woman Jane Egan - will be delighted with the supplies carried by the ATV, the new technology places yet more demands on the astronauts' already arduous training regime.

Richard Moss is head of ATV training with the European Space Agency (ESA) and says the challenge is to streamline astronaut training as new technologies and component are regularly added to the station. "The main problem is the amount the astronauts have to learn for the different components and different items," says Moss. "The last crew had been training for about 10 years to get to this point and an astronauts time is so valuable that the training philosophy has to change," he says.

In a bid to improve information retention and reduce the training time required for the ATV project, the EAC started looking at teaching aids a number of years ago.

After discussions with the 17-member ESA states - of which Ireland is a member through Enterprise Ireland - the technology decided was a three-dimensional software package from Dublin-based ParallelGraphics.

This software provides the astronaut with an animated 3D lesson showing step-by-step the action required from the astronaut for different tasks. "The way the operations work in orbit, we can't see what they are doing. You really have to practise the task and this technology allows them to do that," says Moss.

It has reduced the expected training times for the ATV modules and is, according to Moss, a big hit with the astronauts.

According to Moss, one benefit is that the software can be updated centrally and with new tasks or procedures, then sent out to all the astronauts, even to those already on the space station.

"They have this software on their laptops, so they can use it while travelling. They will also take this with them to the space station and can re-run some of the lessons to practise tasks," says Moss.

Current space station commander, Dr Peggy Whitson and her crewmate Yuri Malenchenko will receive on-board ATV training using the software this month, just prior to its arrival. It is due to launch on March 8th and is expected to arrive at the space station around 18 days later.

So how did a small Dublin firm get involved in the European space programme?

As Connell Gallagher, president ParallelGraphics explains, the initial technology was similar to that used in computer games.

"In around 2000 or 2001, we were working on this technology and we decided that the sweet spot for users would be to link it to computer aided design (CAD) software.

"Every car or aeroplane is designed using 3D so we thought; 'why not maintain that 3D element and use it for the operation and maintenance manuals instead of having thick booklets of drawings and text'."

ParallelGraphics decided the aerospace industry was best suited and courted manufacturers including Boeing and Airbus.

"From a business perspective we were very focused on Aerospace. The Irish Government and Enterprise Ireland provide funding for this type of research which we then commercialised," says Gallagher.

Currently, the ParallelGraphics software is being used for the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 737 and 787, according to Gallagher.

ParallelGraphics first approached the ESA in 2002 with the technology - suggesting it as a maintenance aid - before returning a couple of years later with proposal to use the 3D programme in training astronauts for the ATV.