After a year at the space station the postural muscles of astronaut Scott Kelly have been significantly altered. Prior to the mission a biopsy of his muscle was used to characterize the force-velocity relationship. It was found that the relationship can be described by an a/f0 value of 0.25. A biopsy after the trip found that the force-velocity relationship for his muscle can be described by an a/f0 value of 0.1. Calculate the optimal velocity for power production in his muscle before and after his mission. Show your work and state your assumptions.

Answer: The optimal muscle velocity before Scott’s mission is 0.31 Vmax. The optimal muscle velocity after Scott’s mission is 0.23 Vmax.

In order to gain full credit, you need to show your work, including a listing of (1) the governing equations, (2) all parameters and variables, (3) all necessary assumptions, (4) the steps to finding the solution, with a descriptive sentence.