Date: Monday, 28 February 2022
Time: 7:00 - 9:30 pm AEDT
Venue: Golden Gate Hotel, 238 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne
Don't forget you will need to be double-vaccinated to be allowed entry into the venue!
How to find us: The Golden Gate Hotel is on the north-western corner of the intersection of Clarendon and Coventry Streets in South Melbourne. Take the stairs up to level 1 - we'll be in the Coventry Room.
Getting there:
By car: Car parking is best in Coventry Street west of Clarendon Street.
By tram: Route 12 (via Collins Street), Stop 127 (York Street, then walk south) or Stop 128 (Dorcas Street, then walk north).
Meals available: Place your meal order in the Coventry Room and have it delivered to your table - the menu can be found here.
We look forward to seeing you there!
If you are unable to attend the meeting in person, please register below to join us remotely via Zoom or watch the live stream on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/-s6qtxaEodM.
Hypersonix is Australia’s leading aerospace engineering, design and build company, specialising in hypersonic technology and scramjet engines. The company's scramjet engines and hypersonic vehicles are designed and engineered to disrupt the global market with New Space best practices. Hypersonix is leading the world in green scramjet engines and hypersonic aerospace design and engineering.
About the speaker:
A world leader in scramjet technology, Michael Smart spent 10 years as a Research Scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center: Scramjet Branch. A pioneer in scramjet engine and hypersonic vehicle design, Michael was awarded Australia’s top scholar in his field of Aviation & Aerospace Engineering in 2020. Michael is the vehicle and technology architect of DART AE, Delta Velos, Delta Velos Orbiter and the Wirraway satellite launch system.
Being an astronaut isn’t all fun and games. Due to microgravity, an astronaut’s gluteal muscles shrink and weaken due to decreased loading and use. This can seriously impair their mobility, especially on return to a gravity field. We see the same problem with people on Earth among ageing, disabled and sedentary populations, To study this problem, our research team studied the gluteal muscles of twenty-four volunteers who participated in a bed rest study for two months, simulating microgravity conditions. The participants received a daily treatment of ‘artificial gravity' in a centrifuge to mimic Earth gravity, and our team compared MRI scans of their gluteal muscles from before and after the trial. The results show that the gluteal muscles undergo atrophy and develop increased intramuscular lipid concentration during bed rest. However, the artificial gravity protocol was insufficient to mitigate these deteriorations. This study paves the way for many more artificial gravity studies in the future, which will become more important given that more people are going to space for a longer period of time.
About the speaker:
Dr Vienna Tran's research helps to verify the use of artificial gravity for the hip muscles of astronauts and terrestrial patients during a prolonged bed rest analogue. She holds a First-Class Honours degree from The University of Adelaide for her thesis in this area. During her clinical training, Vienna has undertaken postings with the aeromedical retrieval team at the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS), as well as with the Institute of Aviation Medicine at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). In her day job, Vienna works in regional South Australia as a medical doctor to further her skills in healthcare for Earth and space.
PO Box 351, Mulgrave, Victoria, 3170, Australia
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