Les Johnson

Preliminary Agenda

Monday, November 28

5:00     Opening Reception (Hosted by Robert Kennedy)

Tuesday, November 29 (Oak Ridge, TN -- Doubletree Hilton Hotel)

PRESENTATION FORMAT IS 25 MINUTES PREPARED REMARKS PLUS 5 MINUTES FOR Q & A

8:00     Welcome and Opening Remarks (Les Johnson)

8:15     Sun Focus Comes First; Interstellar Comes Second (Dr. Claudio Maccone)

9:00     Interstellar Travel: Realistic Ideas and Fanciful Dreams (Les Johnson)

9:30     Human and Institutional Barriers to Large Scale Scale

            Geoengineering and Interstellar Spaceflight (Dr. Kent Williams)

10:00    Warp Drive Now (Tony Robertson)

10:30    Power and Propulsion: An Informal Survey of

             Opportunities  Within Particle Physics (Dr. Jim Woosely)

11:00    Project Icarus (Dr. Richard Obousy)

11:30    Antimatter Propulsion (Harold Gerrish)

12:00    Lunch

1:00     Interstellar Light Sails (Dr. Gregory Matloff)

1:30     Inbtroduction to SETI Science and Technology (Paul Shuch)

2:00     Jovian Tesla Radio (Dr. David Fields)

2:30     Lasers Revisited: Their Superior Utility for Interstellar Beacons, Communications and Travel (Dr. John Rather)

3:00     Interstellar Exploration Through Art (C Bangs)

3:30     Humanity in the Outlands: Anthropological and Sociological Concerns in the Face of     Touching the Universe (Dr. Robert C. Lightfoot) 

4:00     Shell Worlds (Robert Kennedy)

4:30     Sublight Colonization of the Galaxy (Ken Roy)

5:00     The Search for Earth 2.0 (Fred Sloop)

5:30     The Fermi Paradox: A Roundtable Discussion (Stephanie Osborn)

6:30     Dinner

9:00     Late Night Panel on the Future of Space Exploration (Les Johnson, moderator)

The Doubletree Hilton Hotel has set aside a block of rooms at a discount rate for the workshop.  To register, and assure a room at the discount rate, go to the Hotel's website: Doubletree Hilton Hotel Oak Ridge

For more information, email Les Johnson at les.mail@lesjohnsonauthor.com

Workshop Purpose

The Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop is an opportunity for relaxed sharing of ideas in directions that will stimulate and encourage Interstellar exploration including propulsion, communications, and research. 

The 'Workshop' theme suggests that the direction should go beyond that of a 'conference'.  Attendees are encouraged to not only present intellectual concepts but to develop these concepts to suggest projects, collaboration, active research and mission planning. 

It should be a time for engaging discussions, thought-provoking ideas, and boundless optimism contemplating a future that may one day be within the reach of humanity.