14 DAY TRIAL // The 2012 100-Year Starship Symposium will take place in Houston, Texas, this week. It will reunite scientists, members of the general public, futurologists, visionaries and entertainers in a series of meetings meant to shape the general guidelines and scope of Earth's first starship.
The concept is already being investigated by NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The non-governmental 100 Year Starship organization, which was set up to investigate the required technologies, organized the symposium.
Between September 13-16, participants will discuss how to maintain the organization functional for another 100 years, and how to balance the project's needs with available sources of funding. A roadmap for the technologies needed on a starship also has to be created, Space reports.
“The symposium's technical session will include scientific papers on topics such as time-distance solutions; life sciences in space exploration; destinations and habitats; becoming an interstellar civilization; space technologies enhancing life on earth; and commercial opportunities from interstellar efforts,” the organizers reveal.