12-02, 13:00–16:00 (Europe/Luxembourg), University of Luxembourg 2
One of the most obvious challenges ahead of us as we attempt to reach the stars is crossing immense distances in a relatively short period of time. Using chemical rockets and planetary gravity assists, the Voyager spacecraft are our first interstellar emissaries but for them to reach the nearest star will require 70,000 years! Practical trip times need to be measured in decades or, at most, in centuries, and this raises the question: Are there methods of advanced propulsion, within the known laws of physics, that can make this possible? The answer is, “yes!” In this short course, Les Johnson will describe the various known types of spacecraft propulsion, their theoretical maximum velocities (hence, travel times), and their suitability for helping humanity become an interstellar species.
Topics to be discussed include:
- Interstellar distances
- Chemical rockets
- Electric propulsion
- Nuclear propulsion (electric and thermal)
- Fission and Fusion Propulsion
- Antimatter Rockets
- Solar and Laser Sails
- Electric Sails
- And some speculative physics
Les Johnson is a physicist, award-winning science and science fiction author, and Chief Technologist at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. His science fiction books include Crisis at Proxima (Baen 2024), The Ross 248 Project (Baen 2023), Saving Proxima (Baen 2021), Pluto: The Dark World (coming from Tor 2025), and more. Les’s popular science books include A Traveler’s Guide to the Stars (Princeton Press 2022) – now translated into 7 languages, Graphene: The Superstrong, Superthin, and Superversatile Material That Will Revolutionize the World (2018), Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel, and others.
In his day job at NASA, Les served as the Principal Investigator for flight demonstrations of advanced space propulsion technologies including solar sails and electrodynamic tethers, and supported the development of nuclear thermal propulsion, electric propulsion systems, and more. Les is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, the British Interplanetary Society, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and MENSA – and is the Program Chair of the Interstellar Research Group.
Les was a technical consultant for the movies Europa Report, Lost in Space, and Solis. NPR, CNN, Fox News, The Science Channel and The Discovery Channel have all interviewed Les about space and space exploration. He was the featured Interstellar Explorer in the January 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine and appeared there again in March 2019.