Les Johnson - Visions of the Future


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Les Johnson





About



Les Johnson is a physicist, author, former Chief Technology Officer for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Senior Advisor for League Advisors, and the Principal Technologist of Infinite Frontiers Consulting. He is an elected member of the International Academy of Astronautics, a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, co-founder of the Interstellar Research Group, and a member of MENSA.

Publisher’s Weekly noted that “The spirit of Arthur C. Clarke and his contemporaries is alive and well…” when describing Les’s novel, Mission to Methone. His non- fiction book, A Traveler's Guide to the Stars (Princeton University Press) was positively reviewed in Scientific American, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, and others. The book is now available in 7 languages.

During his 40-year career, Les worked 35 years at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he served as the Chief Technologist Manager for the Space Science Programs and Projects Office, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Project, and the Interstellar Propulsion Research Project Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office and led multiple spaceflight projects. Prior to joining NASA, Les worked on high energy laser and neutral particle beam missile defense systems.



Les' Interview on Fox News during Artemis II



Fox News featured Les during the launch,

lunar flyby, and splashdown of Artemis II.



Les Interview on CBS Morning News



Les was also interviewed by MSNOW, Morning Joe

CBS News, NewsNation, NewsMax, and FoxNewLive during the Artemis II mission.



Les Spoke to the Royal Institution about
interstellar travel



It was an honor to be invited to lecture to the ​

venerable Royal Institution.



Les explains solar sails in this NASA video



This NASA video explains how solar sails work and some missions that use the technology for propelling spacecraft through space.



coming soon





Keep an eye out for these upcoming releases!



COMING DECEMBER 2026 in Hardcover



Peter Peterson thought his most dangerous job was reverse-engineering foreign missiles for the U.S. government—until the lady of Grayson Lake tried to turn him into a late-night snack. After surviving his first brush with the supernatural, he is recruited by Monster Hunter International and gets pulled into an organization so deep in the US government that it will never be disclosed. It’s mission: protect humanity from alien invaders.

For centuries, hostile visitors from across the stars have been sneaking to Earth in waves, building secret colonies, running abduction schemes, and occasionally trying to remake the planet for their own species.


While Congress holds hearings with whistleblowers and expert witnesses, very real counter-alien operations are being run out of the Pentagon and through undisclosed locations in New England. Armed with his engineering brain, a stack of dog-eared case files from retiring alien-hunter Martin Dreyfus, and a squad of eclectic and very dangerous hunters, Pete Peterson is about to discover just how deep the rabbit hole of flying saucers, cover stories, and government turf wars really goes. From the “real” truth behind Roswell to Biblical-era monster hunters facing aliens in Babylon, every page of Dreyfus’s diary points to one conclusion: the aliens aren’t done with Earth.



AVAILABLE NOW IN HARDCOVER



First contact with the seemingly impossible human civilization at Proxima Centauri is not going well. The Earth ships sent to render aid have not been able to reverse the contagion ravaging their population and, worse, many Proximans are now wondering if the humans from Earth are there for other, not so charitable, reasons.


Can the extinction-level disaster faced at Proxima be reversed by the combined ingenuity of scientists from both worlds working together?


Unsettling discoveries in the Proxima Centauri planetary system beg the questions: What if the evil gods depicted in Proxima’s ancient mythologies were real and far more powerful than even the humans from Earth with their late 21st century technologies? Worse, what if their ancient oppressors never truly left?



Recent releases





AVAILABLE NOW IN HARDCOVER


Hugo Award winner Ben Bova and Les Johnson complete Bova's Outer Planets series (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), a Grand Tour of the human settled solar system, with a final encounter on Pluto.

Major Larry Randall is sent to retrieve Dr. Aaron Mikelson—now fused with an AI after a devastating accident—whose enhanced senses have detected an alien artifact on Pluto’s surface. Transferred to a research vessel, Randall and the crew struggle to uncover its purpose, only to discover signs of something even greater beneath Charon’s icy crust. Amid looming interplanetary conflict, Mikelson’s obsession may summon a force beyond humanity’s control.



NOW IN MASS MARKET PAPERBACK


Traveling to the stars will be difficult, but not, perhaps, the most difficult part. What about when we get to another star? What then? Will the planets be immediately habitable? Not likely. Will those who undertook the journey be able to easily turn around and come home if they don’t find “Earth 2.0?” Almost certainly not. Therein the lies the challenge: Finding worlds that are potentially habitable and then taking the time, perhaps centuries, to make them compatible with Earth life. They will encounter mysteries and unexpected challenges, but the human spirit will endure. Join this diverse group of science fiction writers and scientists as they take up the challenge of The Ross 248 Project.



AVAILABLE NOW IN HARDCOVER

AND PAPERBACK


First contact with a human civilization at Proxima Centauri is unraveling. Earth’s aid missions have failed to stop the contagion devastating Proximan society—and suspicion grows that their true motives may be far from benevolent. As scientists from both worlds race to prevent extinction, disturbing evidence suggests Proxima’s ancient myths may be rooted in reality. What if the gods once feared were real—and still waiting in the shadows?




AVAILABLE NOW IN HARDCOVER, TRADE, E-BOOK, AND AUDIO.


With known exoplanets now numbering in the thousands and initiatives like 100 Year Starship and Breakthrough Starshot advancing the idea of interstellar travel, the age-old dream of venturing forth into the cosmos and perhaps even colonizing distant worlds may one day become a reality. A Traveler’s Guide to the Stars reveals how.



LES'S FIction BOOKS



LES'S NON-FIction BOOKS





www.lesjohnsonauthor.com