12-02, 18:30–19:45 (Europe/Luxembourg), Banquet Room
Free Registration is required for this talk. To register, please visit: https://feis2024.uni.lu/register/authors.
Join science fiction authors Brandon Q. Morris, Joshua T. Calvert, and Les Johnson for an evening of science-informed and inspired visioneering of humanity's future in space. Participating in the University of Luxembourg's and Interstellar Research Group's Interstellar Symposium, these best-selling authors will discuss how science fiction inspires scientists and vice versa, and how the incredible technological breakthroughs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are shaping our lives as we prepare to once again send human beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and ultimately, to planets circling other stars.
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.
Brandon Q. Morris is a physicist and space specialist. He has long been concerned with space issues, both professionally and privately and while he wanted to become an astronaut, he had to stay on Earth for a variety of reasons. He is particularly fascinated by the “what if” and through his books he aims to share compelling hard science fiction stories that could actually happen, and someday may happen.
With almost 2 million books sold, Joshua T. Calvert is at the forefront of current international science fiction. His German novel "Singularity", published by Fischer-Tor, won the prestigious "Seraph" fantasy literature prize for best novel in 2022. The English translation of his Kindle hit "The Fossil" won second place in the 2021 American "Reader's Favorite Awards" for best novel. His books are available in English, Spanish and German. As a hybrid author, his novels are indie-published and published by well-known publishers. He lives with his wife and son between Portugal and Greece.