The Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop 2013

by Stephanie Osborn
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

The Second Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop will be held in Huntsville, AL 3-6 Feb 2013. This workshop (I'm a member of the science committee and the steering committee) is a gathering of scientists and engineers who want to try to solve the problems of interstellar travel. Papers offering concepts will be presented and discussed.

The Workshop itself may be rather more complex than the average layperson would enjoy, and membership closed several weeks ago in any event, but here is the text of a press release on some public events that will be associated with the Workshop, for those that will be in Huntsville and surrounds during those dates.

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Going to the Stars – Is it possible?

The Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW), the Huntsville AL L5 Society (HAL5) and Calhoun Community College invite you to spend an evening with some space visionaries who are meeting this week in Huntsville to discuss the possibilities of interstellar flight. That Workshop is being sponsored by the Ultimax Group, Baen Books, the British Interplanetary Society, NeXolve, and the ORION astronomy society. At this free public forum, we are honored to have Paul Gilster of the Tau Zero Foundation, Bill Cress and Richard Obousy of Icarus Interstellar, Kelvin Long of the British Interplanetary Society and the Institute for Interstellar Studies, and Gordon Woodcock, former NSS Director, to talk about the dream and challenges of going to the stars. The event will be moderated by Les Johnson of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

The event is free and open to the public. The event will take place on Tuesday, February 5, 2012 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Calhoun Community College Huntsville Campus’ Student Center – 102 Wynn Drive NW, Huntsville. For more information, please contact:  Yohon.Lo@nss.org  or visit the event website at http://www.lesjohnsonauthor.com/tviw/tviw_2013 or http://www.HAL5.org.

About Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW)
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.

About Huntsville AL L5 Society (HAL5)

The Huntsville Alabama L5 (HAL5) Society, the Huntsville Alabama chapter of the National Space Society (NSS), is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), grassroots, space educational / advocacy organization. Since 1983, HAL5 has made significant contributions toward developing low-cost space access technologies, space education, and public outreach. For almost 30 years, HAL5 has hosted a continuing series of public lectures, forums, and events on space-related topics. HAL5 also has made significant contributions to nitrous-oxide hybrid rockets and to rockets launched from high-altitude balloons, one of which was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1997.

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Come on by and see what scientists and engineers are doing to make interstellar space flight possible!

-Stephanie Osborn
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com