Would a human baby brought up in space look a lot like ET? “Possibly,” says Dr Graeme Wren Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Science & Technology, Charles Sturt University (CSU), Wagga Wagga.

 

Dr Wren will present the public lecture Space Medicine: Physiological Adaptation to Microgravity on Wednesday 25 October 2006 at 6.00pm at the Dubbo Campus of CSU.

 

“There are many issues related to growing up in a zero gravity environment. Your proportions would be completely different. Your head and chest would be larger, and without lower body exercise, leg size and length would reduce.

 

“The opposite would happen on Jupiter where the gravity is so much more than Earth. There you would be quite flat and very heavy because the higher gravity would cause you to grow in a totally different way.”

 

Space medicine seeks to understand the influences of the space environment on human performance. Loss of muscle mass is just one consequence of long-term space travel. Very long-duration space travel could also expose astronauts to life-threatening levels of radiation exposure.

 

“The Earth’s atmosphere protects us from harmful radiation. However, protection within a space craft requires shielding, which adds mass, and the greater the mass the greater the force you need to accelerate, which takes fuel. So it is a bit of a vicious circle.”

 

Another problem is psychological adaptation. “Being able to live in conditions of isolation and confinement can be stressful. You start to think, ‘if something was to go wrong, there is no way someone could get to me’.

 

“Add to this dizziness and space sickness, weightlessness and the dynamics of lift off, and a person can become quite fatigued and run down. Over prolonged periods the immune system can weaken, and the close confinement of a few people can promote the transmission of infection and illness.”

 

Dr Wren spent 24 years with the Royal Australian Air Force. He is a graduate of numerous universities, including The University of Western Australia, Texas A&M University, The University of Adelaide and the University of Canberra.

 

“I was an astronomer first. I joined the Air Force after becoming interested in the astronaut program. While at Number Six Squadron, operating the F-111s, I won a private scholarship to the US where I completed a Masters and Doctorate in aerospace engineering. In 1987 I was announced as an Australian astronaut candidate by the Consul General. However, this didn’t come to fruition and not wanting to join the program as a US citizen, I returned home.”