Speaker Biography

Les Johnson

Principal Investigator, Near Earth Asteroid Scout

NASA

Les Johnson is the NASA Principal Investigator of two interplanetary solar sail space missions. The first, Near Earth Asteroid Scout, scheduled for spaceflight in 2020, will use a 925 square foot solar sail to propel a small spacecraft to rendezvous with an asteroid. The second, Solar Cruiser, will demonstrate an 18,000 square foot solar sail-propelled spacecraft to perform scientific observations of the sun if it selected for flight in 2024. 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.