Jan 25, 2016
Feature Guest: Les Johnson
In our last
conversation, Pekka Janhunen, inventor of the electric solar sail,
joined Denise at The Star Spot to explain the science and
engineering behind this advanced spacecraft propulsion technology.
Now as we dive into Part 2, it’s time to ask, just how far into
deep space will the electric sail take us and will it truly open up
a path to the stars? To answer those questions, today we’re joined
at The Star Spot by Les Johnson, Deputy Manager for NASA’s Advanced
Concepts Office.
Current in Space
Death from above. If an object from outer space is going to kill
you, Tony tells you which one it's likely to be. And did you know
some stars are in a big hurry? Anuj explains the newly discovered
phenomenon of runaway stars.
About Our Guest
Les Johnson is Deputy Manager for NASA’s Advanced Concepts Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He is co-investigator of NASA’s Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System (HERTS), an electric-solar-sail study and development project. Johnson is also a science fiction author whose latest novel, Rescue Mode, describes the first human mission to Mars.