I’ve got an out of town speaking gig today and am pressed for time, so this may be a good occasion for something I needed to do anyway for the record, which is to highlight the papers given by Tau Zero Foundation and Project Icarus people at the recent 100 Year Starship Symposium. Most of the following were delivered as individual talks, although some were presented in panels. If you’re interested in reading the papers each author prepared for the conference, many (but not all, evidently) are to be published in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. I’ll deliver publishing details when they become available.

Here are the presentations of those associated with Tau Zero:

  • E. Davis, “Faster-Than-Light Space Warps, Status and Next Steps”
  • K. Denning, “Inertia of Past Futures” (anthropology)
  • P. Gilster, “The Interstellar Vision: Principles and Practice”
  • G. Landis, “Plasma Shield for an Interstellar Vehicle”
  • C. Maccone, “Sun Focus Comes First, Interstellar Comes Second (Mission concept)”
  • J. Maclay, “Role of the Quantum Vacuum in Space Travel”
  • G. Matloff, “Light Sailing to the Stars”
  • M. Millis, “Space Drive Physics, Intro and Next Steps”
  • M. Millis, “Cockpit Considerations for Inertial Affect and FTL Propulsion”
  • R. Noble, “Small Body Exploration Technologies as Precursors for Interstellar Robotics”
  • S. White, “Warp Field Mechanics 101”

You may also be interested in Slate’s take on the Symposium, which focuses on some of the breakthrough propulsion concepts at the far edge of the speculative frontier. The Smithsonian’s blog also carried an update about the conference, while MSNBC offered up a look at possible starship destinations, a major interest as we continue to lack planetary data for nearby stars. Finally, I loved Gregory Benford’s article describing the 100 Year Starship Symposium: The First Hard Science Fiction Convention.

Papers and presentations from the Icarus team in Orlando were plentiful indeed:

  • J. Benford, “Recent Developments in Interstellar Beam-Driven Sails”
  • B. Cress, “Icarus Interstellar’s New Icarus Institute for Interstellar Sciences”
  • A. Crowl, J. Hunt, “How an Embryo Space Colonization (ESC) Mission Solves the Time-Distance Problem”
  • J.R. French, “A Review of the Daedalus Main Propulsion System”
  • R. Freeland, “Fission-Fusion Hybrid Fuel for Interstellar Propulsion”
  • P. Galea, “Machine Learning and the Starship: A Match Made in Heaven”
  • A. Hale, “Exoplanet Studies for Potential Icarus Destination Stars”
  • A. Hein, “Technology, Society and Politics in the Next 100-300 Years: Implications for Interstellar Flight”
  • A. Hein, K. Long, “Exploratory Research for an Interstellar Mission: Technology Readiness, Stakeholds and Research Sustainability”
  • R. Obousy, “A Review of Interstellar Starship Designs”
  • R. Obousy, “A 21st Century Interstellar Starship Study”
  • M. Stanic, “Fusion Propulsion Comparison”
  • R. Swinney, “Initial Considerations in Exploring the Interstellar Roadmap”
  • R. Swinney, “Navigational and Guidance Requirements of an Interstellar Spacecraft”
  • A. Tziolas, “Long Term Computing”
  • A. Tziolas, “ Starflight Academy: Education in Interstellar Engineering”

Also, be aware that Ian O’Neill is continuing his coverage of the Icarus study, the latest article being a look at sex in space that circles around to starship design. Icarus team member Tiffany Frierson gives us her personal perspective on the conference (and it was a pleasure to meet Tiffany, who was often to be found circulating near the Icarus and Tau Zero tables snapping photos). Athena Andreadis presents an insightful look at the conception and preconceptions of the conference in If They Come, It Might Get Built. Finally, Centauri Dreams contributor and Astronomy Now editor Keith Cooper offers up his own take on starship design and fusion propulsion in an excellent essay that delivers helpful background and segues into the Icarus team’s thoughts on fusion’s future between the stars.

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