IRG 2021 Agenda Thursday, September 23, 2021 pre-Symposium events TimeTitle 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM(optional) On-campus Tours of Mirror Lab, TRRL 6:00 PM - 8:00 PMJoint NASA NIAC / IRG reception at TAPS art show (Kuiper building) Friday, September 24, 2021 IRG Seminars Time Title 8:30 AMRegistration opens in lobby 9:00 AM - 12:00 PMMorning SeminarTerraforming Planets: Why and HowMorning SeminarAstrobiology and the Search for Nearby Habitable Worlds(optional) Tours of Mirror Lab, TRRL, Paragon SDC, etc. 12:00 PM - 1:30 PMLunch (on your own) 1:30 PM - 4:30 PMAfternoon SeminarSpace Law: An Overview, Past, Present, and Future Afternoon SeminarThe Challenge of Closed-loop and Bioregenerative Life Support for Long Duration Space Exploration(optional) Tours of Mirror Lab, TRRL, Paragon SDC, etc. 4:30 PM - 6:00 PMNetworking on the TerraceArt show preview 6:00 PM - 8:00 PMOpening Reception (Arizona Historical Society) 8:00 PM - 9:00 PMA conversation with David Brin (followed by book signing)Hospitality open until late Saturday, September 25, 2021 IRG 7th Interstellar Symposium TimeTitle 8:00 AM - 8:30 AMRegistration table opens 8:30 AM - 9:00 AMWelcome to plenary sessions 9:00 AM - 9:40 AMKeynote #1: Esther Dyson 9:40 AM - 10:00 AMJames Benford - Is ET Lurking in Our Cosmic Backyard? 10:00 AM - 10:20 AMMarc Millis - Breakthrough Propulsion Study – Assessing Interstellar Challenges and Prospects 10:20 AM - 11:00 AMMorning Break 11:00 AM - 11:20 AMAlan Stern - An Overview and Plan for an Interstellar Mission Study with the novel Helicity Drive fusion propulsion concept 11:20 AM - 11:40 AMRonald Turner - Overview of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program 11:40 AM - 12:00 PMWorking Tracks kickoff 12:00 PM - 1:30 PMLunch with a speaker ( Jim Bell) 1:30 PM - 1:50 PMJeffrey Greason - Wind-Pellet Shear Sailing 1:50 PM - 2:10 PMLynn Rothschild - Synthetic biology as the enabling technology for NASA’s missions 2:10 PM - 2:30 PMKenneth Roy - The Solar Shield Concept: Current Status and Future Possibilities 2:30 PM - 2:50 PMRonald S. Polidan - FarView – An In-Situ Manufactured Lunar Far Side Radio Observatory 2:50 PM - 3:20 PMAfternoon break 3:20 PM - 3:40 PMGerald Jackson - Deceleration of Interstellar Spacecraft Utilizing Antimatter 3:40 PM - 4:00 PMMike McCulloch - Using New Physics to get to Alpha Centauri in a Human Lifetime 4:00 PM - 4:20 PMMatthew Gorban - Variable Mass Propellantless Propulsion Drive 4:20 PM - 4:40 PMChristopher Morrison - Extrasolar Object Intercept and Sample Return Mission Using Ultra Power Dense Radioisotope Electric Propulsion 4:40 PM - 6:00 PMPosters on display 6:00 PM - 7:00 PMPoster Session with Authors 7:00 PM - 9:00 PMEridani Awards dinner -- Homer Hickam speaking 9:00 PM - 11:00 PMWorking tracksHospitality open until late Sunday, September 26, 2021 IRG 7th Interstellar Symposium TimeTitle 8:15 AM - 8:45 AMRegistration table opens 8:45 AM - 9:00 AMWelcome to plenary sessions 9:00 AM - 9:40 AMKeynote #2: Avi Loeb 9:40 AM - 10:00 AMPhilip Mauskopf - Communications challenges for the exploration of nearby star systems with low mass probes 10:00 AM - 10:20 AMGabriele Rizzo - On moving faster than light 10:20 AM - 11:00 AMMorning Break 11:00 AM - 11:20 AMJekan Thanga - Cryopreservation of Organisms in Space in Preparation for Interstellar Travel 11:20 AM - 11:40 AMFatima Ebrahimi - Reconnecting Plasmoid Propulsion 11:40 AM - 12:00 PMJeremy Dietrich - Orbital Architectures of Nearby Planetary Systems 12:00 PM - 12:10 PMGroup Photo 12:10 PM - 1:30 PMLunch with a speaker (Brent Ziarnick) 1:30 PM - 1:50 PMBrian McConnell - The Interstellar Communication Relay (What If SETI Succeeds, Now What?) 1:50 PM - 2:10 PMGeoffrey A. Landis - Power Generation from Interplanetary and Interstellar Plasma and Magnetic Fields 2:10 PM - 2:30 PMS. Pete Worden - Alpha Centauri: getting there – and what to expect when we do 2:30 PM - 2:50 PMGeoffrey A. Landis - Bussard’s Fusion Ramjet: the Impossible Dream 2:50 PM - 3:20 PMAfternoon break 3:20 PM - 3:40 PMDavid G Messerschmitt - Mass and propulsion implications for interstellar scientific observation by flyby 3:40 PM - 4:00 PMAndrew Higgins - Dynamic Soaring as a Means to Exceed the Solar Wind Speed 4:00 PM - 4:20 PMLouis Friedman - Visiting an Exoplanet 4:20 PM - 4:40 PMChris Limbach - Phenomenology and Capabilities of Mutually Guided Laser and Neutral Particle Beams for Deep Space Propulsion 5:00 PM - 6:00 PMVolunteer reception (TBD) 6:00 PM - 8:00 PMOutreach / Author event 9:00 PM - 11:00 PMWorking tracksHospitality open until late Monday, September 27, 2021 IRG 7th Interstellar Symposium TimeTitle 8:00 AM - 8:30 AMRegistration table opens 8:30 AM - 8:45 AMWelcome to plenary sessions 8:45 AM - 9:00 AMUpdate from I4IS 9:00 AM - 9:40 AMKeynote #3: Mark Shelhamer 9:40 AM - 10:00 AMKai Staats - SAM: Construction of a hi-fidelity, hermetically sealed Mars habitat analog at Biosphere 2 10:00 AM - 10:40 AMMorning Break 10:40 AM - 11:00 AMTroy Howe - Pulsed Plasma Rocket- Developing a Dynamic Fission Process for High Specific Impulse and High Thrust Propulsion 11:00 AM - 11:20 AMHarold "Sonny" White - LSI Overview and Eagleworks Research and Development Activities 11:20 AM - 11:40 AMGregory Benford - A Gravitational Wave Transmitter 11:40 AM - 12:10 PMWorking Track Readouts 12:10 PM - 12:20 PMAdjourn 12:20 PM - 1:30 PMLunch (on your own) 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM(optional) Tours of Mirror Lab, TRRL, Paragon SDC, etc. 1:30 PM - 6:00 PM(optional) Backstage Tour of Biosphere 2 and SAM -- will require most of afternoon -- possible Mirror Lab tour afterwards 4:30 PM - 9:00 PMHospitality suite open 6:30 PM - 8:00 PMBirds of a Feather Dinners on your own (optional)