2021 Women in Physics Public Lecture hosted by the Science Space

Associate Professor Susanna Guatelli was recently named as this year's Australian Institute of Physics 2021 Women in Physics Lecturer. The lecture celebrates the contribution of women to advances in physics.

Biography:

Associate Professor Susanna Guatelli was trained as a nuclear and subnuclear physicist at the University of Genova, Italy. In 2003, after a Master in Physics, she had the opportunity to undertake a PhD in physics, based at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland). In 2007 she moved to Australia as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, to characterise innovative detector technology developed at the Centre For Medical Radiation Physics Centre, University of Wollongong (UOW), for radiation protection of astronauts and aviators.

Title:

Radiation protection of astronauts in human missions to Mars: simulation and reality

Abstract:

Human missions to Mars have been identified as a main goal of human exploration by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group in 2013. The roadmap to the human exploration of Mars started with the International Space Station mission about twenty years ago and is envisaged to continue with a human outpost on the Moon and finally with a mission to Mars within the next twenty years. A human mission to Mars would expose astronauts to serious health hazards, including acute and late risks caused by exposure to cosmic radiation, eventually leading to cancer and death. The design of shielding solutions and powerful and accurate radiation monitoring systems are subjects of research to facilitate the human exploration of the Solar System. However, the testing of proposed novel technologies is limited on Earth as there are no accelerator facilities capable to reproduce the complex cosmic radiation field the astronauts would encounter in space. In the past fifteen years, Monte Carlo simulations, capable to describe cosmic radiation interactions in space mission habitats and in astronauts, demonstrated to be an extremely useful tool for radiation protection studies of astronauts.

Register now as places are limited. Attendees are required to check in using the Service NSW app for COVID Safe check-in.

Web: www.sciencespace.com.au