Space travel experts from around the world will gather at Northumbria University to discuss ways to tackle health issues faced by astronauts during lengthy extra terrestrial missions.
The University will host the first UK Space Biomedicine Association workshop on "Space Exercise Countermeasures and Post Mission Rehabilitation" this month.
Dr Volker Damann, Head of ESA Medical Operations and a flight surgeon to many human space flight missions, will present the keynote speech at the event, which is sponsored by Wyle GmbH laboratories and supported by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Space travel provides unique health challenges for astronauts, including the risk of muscle deterioration due to the lack of gravity. The workshop will focus on research and science innovations that can help to counteract muscular atrophy and other physical ailments suffered by astronauts in space flight.
Speakers will include Dr Simon Evetts, Sarah Flemming, and Nora Peterson, from the ESA Crew Medical Support Office (CMSO); Gunda Lambrecht, Consultant Physiotherapist for ESA Medical Operations; and Northumbria University academic Dr Dorothee Debuse.
The workshop will coincide with the development of an international research consortium, involving experts from the Crew Medical Support Office (ESA); Northumbria University academics, Dr Nick Caplan and Dr Dorothee Debuse; and Professor Julie Hides from the Australian Catholic University.
The consortium aims to encourage collaboration in order to strengthen the scientific foundation of space mission related rehabilitation programmes. It is hoped that sharing the knowledge of movement control deterioration and muscle imbalance suffered by astronauts will inform understanding and treatment of muscle atrophy on Earth.
Dr Nick Caplan, from Northumbria's School of Life Sciences, said: "This workshop and consortium is highly topical as Space travel is again in the public eye. This summer saw a 520-day simulation of a Mars human exploration mission get underway in Russia, with researchers studying the mental and emotional impact on volunteers confined in space travel conditions for an extended period."
Dr Simon Evetts, Medical Projects & Technology Unit Lead at the CMSO and Northumbria graduate, confirmed the timeliness of the workshop, adding: "December will see a European astronaut embark on Europe's third longest duration space mission, and Major Tim Peake, the first UK astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps, has just recently completed basic training for space flight."
The Space Exercise Countermeasures and Post Mission Rehabilitation workshop take place on Saturday 13 November. It will be hosted in Northumbria University's Sutherland Hall and in the new £30m sports facility, Sport Central, which boasts some of the finest state of the art laboratories for the study of human movement and control.
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