Les Johnson - Visions of the Future


  • About
    • Who is Les Johnson?
    • Interviews
  • Writing
    • Books
    • Articles
  • Space Projects
    • Space Projects
    • Media & News
    • Publications
  • Contact
  • Stammtisch

Join les on the journey.




contact Les

Les Johnson





About



Les Johnson is a physicist, author, and NASA technologist. He is an elected member of the International Academy of Astronautics, a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the National Space Society, and MENSA.


Publisher’s Weekly noted that “The spirit of Arthur C. Clarke and his contemporaries is alive and well…” when describing Les’s novel, Mission to Methone. His non- fiction book, A Traveler's Guide to the Stars (Princeton University Press) was positively reviewed in Scientific American, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, and others. The book is being translated and published in Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, and Polish.


In his day job, Les is the Chief Technologist at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. During his career at NASA, Les served as the Manager for the Space Science Programs and Projects Office, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Project, and the Interstellar Propulsion Research Project.



Recent and upcoming releases





NOW AVAILABLE: Volume 2 - Each volume of this 3-book monograph series will contain original technical articles by different authors on topics related to future travel from the solar system to planets circling other stars. There are many popular science and science fiction books that discuss interstellar travel, but surprisingly few serious technical treatments that comprehensively cover the multi-disciplinary aspects required to enable such ambitious missions in the future. Working with Elsevier, we intend the monographs to be the ‘go to’ technical reference for those working in the field.


Click Here to Buy

NOW IN MASS MARKET PAPERBACK: Traveling to the stars will be difficult, but not, perhaps, the most difficult part. What about when we get to another star? What then? Will the planets be immediately habitable? Not likely. Will those who undertook the journey be able to easily turn around and come home if they don’t find “Earth 2.0?” Almost certainly not. Therein the lies the challenge: Finding worlds that are potentially habitable and then taking the time, perhaps centuries, to make them compatible with Earth life. They will encounter mysteries and unexpected challenges, but the human spirit will endure. Join this diverse group of science fiction writers and scientists as they take up the challenge of The Ross 248 Project.


Click Here to Buy

COMING NOVEMBE 2024

First contact with the seemingly impossible human civilization at Proxima Centauri is not going well. The Earth ships sent to render aid have not been able to reverse the contagion ravaging their population and, worse, many Proximans are now wondering if the humans from Earth are there for other, not so charitable, reasons. Can the extinction-level disaster faced at Proxima be reversed by the combined ingenuity of scientists from both worlds working together? Unsettling discoveries in the Proxima Centauri planetary system beg the questions: What if the evil gods depicted in Proxima’s ancient mythologies were real and far more powerful than even the humans from Earth with their late 21st century technologies? Worse, what if their ancient oppressors never truly left?


Click Here to Buy

With known exoplanets now numbering in the thousands and initiatives like 100 Year Starship and Breakthrough Starshot advancing the idea of interstellar travel, the age-old dream of venturing forth into the cosmos and perhaps even colonizing distant worlds may one day become a reality. A Traveler’s Guide to the Stars reveals how.

Available in hardcover, trade, e-book, and audio.


Click Here to Buy

LES'S FIction BOOKS







www.lesjohnsonauthor.com