NASA FISO Presentation: Solar Sail Propulsion for Interplanetary Cubesats
Now available is the March 25, 2015 NASA Future In-Space Operations (FISO) telecon material. The speaker was Les Johnson (NASA’s Advanced Concepts Office) who discussed “Solar Sail Propulsion for Interplanetary Cubesats”.
Les Johnson is the Technical Assistant for NASA’s Advanced Concepts Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. He is the Principal Investigator for the NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Scout mission, a Co-Investigator for the European InflateSail solar sail demonstration mission, and was the Principal Investigator of NASA’s ProSEDS space tether experiment.
During his career at NASA, he served as the Manager for the Space Science Programs and Projects Office, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Program, and the Interstellar Propulsion Research Project. He thrice received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal and has 3 patents. Les is an author of several popular science books including “Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel” and “Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth.” He is also a science fiction writer; his books include “Going Interstellar” and “Rescue Mode,” with co-author Ben Bova. Les received his BA in chemistry and physics from Transylvania University (Lexington, KY) and his MS in physics from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN).
Listen to podcast of “Solar Sail Propulsion for Interplanetary Cubesats” telecon:
