I'd suggest that if you are coming at this from a totally experience free background you could help your start by reading these articles in the "Projects and Articles" section.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.p...63,306,0,0,1,0
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.p...63,431,0,0,1,0
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.p...63,201,0,0,1,0