On Wednesday, March 1st, at 7:00 p.m. in Morehead Planetarium's Star Theater, SpaceTalk and the Morehead Planetarium will sponsor a talk by Dr. Joan Vernikos, a respected space life scientist and author. Dr. Vernikos' talk is entitled "Space Age Health." Copies of her book, The G-Connection: Harness Gravity and Reverse Aging, will be on sale.

Dr. Vernikos has published over 200 scientific papers and reviews. Her research focused on human hormonal and behavorial response to stress and applying that knowledge to operational conditions in aviation and space. She developed the framework for understanding how gravity affects the human body. She was the first to carry out head-down bed-rest studies in women and compare their physiological response to that of men Dr. Vernikos also holds three patents, including that for the Human Powered Centrifuge. Dr. Vernikos was the Director of Life Sciences at NASA Headquarters from 1993 to 2000.

For this work and her leadership in the space sciences, she received numerous awards including the Strughold and Leverett Awards from the Aerospace Medical Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award of Women in Aerospace, and NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement and two Exceptional Leadership Awards.