2019 Symposium Call for Papers

6th Interstellar Symposium and Interstellar Propulsion Workshop – TVIW 2019

In collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW) hereby invites participation in its 6th Interstellar Symposium and Interstellar Propulsion Workshop -hosted by Wichita State University (WSU) and Ad Astra Kansas Foundation – to be held from Sunday, November 10 through Friday, November 15, 2019, in Wichita, Kansas. The 2019 TVIW has the following elements:

The NASA Workshop on Interstellar Propulsion will focus solely on physics-based propulsion technologies that have the potential to meet the goal of launching an interstellar probe within the next century and achieving .1c transit velocity: Beamed Energy Propulsion, Fusion, and Antimatter.

At this meeting, the state-of-the-art of each will be examined, competing approaches to advancing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of each will be presented by advocates and assessed by non-advocates for synthesis into a workshop report to serve as the blueprint for possible future interstellar propulsion technology development.

The Interstellar Symposium will focus on all other aspects of interstellar travel excluding the advanced propulsion technologies to be covered in the NASA Workshop on Interstellar Propulsion, such as power, communications, system reliability/maintainability, psychology, crew health, anthropology, legal regimes and treaties, ethics, exoplanet science (possible destinations), and related research.

Working Tracks are collaborative, small group discussions around a set of interdisciplinary questions on an interstellar subject with the objective of producing “roadmaps” and/or publications to encourage further developments in the respective topics. This year we will be organizing the Working Tracks to follow selected plenary talks with focused discussions on the same topic.

Sagan Meetings. Carl Sagan famously employed this format for his 1971 conference at the Byurakan Observatory in old Soviet Armenia, which dealt with the Drake Equation. Each Sagan Meeting will invite five speakers to give a short presentation staking out a position on a particular question. These speakers will then form a panel to engage in a lively discussion with the audience on that topic.

Seminars are 3-hour presentations on a single subject, providing an in depth look at that subject. Seminars will be held on Sunday, November 10, 2019, with morning and afternoon sessions. The content must be acceptable to be counted as continuation education credit for those holding a Professional Engineer (PE) certificate.

Other Content includes, but is not limited to, posters, displays of art or models, demonstrations, panel discussions, interviews, or public outreach events.

Publications: Since TVIW serves as a critical incubator of ideas for the interstellar community, we intend to publish the work of TVIW 2019 in many outlets, including a complete workshop proceedings in book form.

No Paper, No Podium: If a written paper is not submitted by the final manuscript deadline, authors will not be permitted to present their work at the event. Papers should be original work that has not been previously published. Select papers may be submitted for professional publication, such as in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society (JBIS).

Video and Archiving: All TVIW events may be captured on video or in still images for use on the TVIW website, in newsletters and social media. All presenters, speakers and selected participants will be asked to complete a Release Form that grants permission for TVIW to use this content as described.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

Abstracts for presented papers/presentations at TVIW 2019 may be submitted to either of two categories:

1. NASA Workshop on Interstellar Propulsion

2. Interstellar Symposium

Topics for Working Tracks, Sagan Meetings, Seminars, and Other Content are NOT solicited at this time.

Abstracts for the NASA Workshop on Interstellar Propulsion must relate to one of the three propulsion technologies of interest (Beamed Energy Propulsion, Fusion, and Antimatter) and should include the aspects of recent research, an assessment of the technology’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL) using NASA’s definitions found here, and a discussion of critical technical issues to be resolved with realistic, near-term technical development milestones identified (including relevant performance metrics).

Abstracts for the Interstellar Symposium must related to one or more of the many other interstellar mission related topics, such as power, communications, system reliability/maintainability, psychology, crew health, anthropology, legal regimes and treaties, ethics, exoplanet science (possible destinations), and propulsion technologies not explicitly called for in the NASA Workshop on Interstellar Propulsion.

Abstracts due: July 30, 2019.

All abstracts must be submitted online here.

PRESENTING AUTHOR(S) – Please list ONLY the author(s) who will actually be in attendance and presenting at the conference. (first name, last name, degree –for example, Susan Smith, MD)

ADDITIONAL AUTHORS – List all authors here, including Presenting Author(s) – (first name, last name, degree(s) – for example, Mary Rockford, RN; Susan Smith, MD; John Jones, PhD)

ABBREVIATIONS within the body should be kept to a minimum and must be defined upon first use in the abstract by placing the abbreviation in parenthesis after the represented full word or phrase. Proprietary drug names and logos may NOT be used. Non-proprietary (generic) names should be used.

ABSTRACT LENGTH – The entire abstract, (EXCLUDING title, authors, presenting author’s institutional affiliation(s), city, state, and text), including any tables or figures should be a maximum of 350 words. It is your responsibility to verify compliance with the length requirement.

Abstract Structure – abstracts must include the following headings:

Title – the presentation title

Background – describes the research or initiative context

Objective – describes the research or initiative objective

Methods – describes research methodology used. For initiatives, describes the target population, program or curricular content, and evaluation method

Results – summarizes findings in sufficient detail to support the conclusions

TRL Assessment and Justification (NASA Propulsion Workshop only)

Development Roadmap (NASA Propulsion Workshop only)

Near-term technical milestones and performance metrics (NASA Propulsion Workshop only)

Conclusions – states the conclusions drawn from results, including their applicability.

Questions and responses to this Call for Papers, Workshops and Participation should be directed to: info@tviw.us

For updates on the meeting, speakers, and logistics, please refer to the website: https://tviw.us/2019-symposium/

TVIW is incorporated in the State of Tennessee as a non-profit education organization. TVIW is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) educational, non-profit corporation by U.S. Internal Revenue Service. For U.S. tax purposes, all donations to TVIW are fully tax deductible (as allowed by your local laws).

Copyright © 2019 Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop, Inc. (TVIW), All rights reserved.