Interstellar travel presents daunting challenges of cosmic distance and time, but humanity is also entering an era of accelerated technological advancements in which new prospects for achieving interstellar missions and journeys are emerging. Governments worldwide are also acknowledging officially the merit of investigating unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), an unknown subset of which might relate to interstellar travel. This track welcomes presentations and panel discussions on interstellar missions, travel, physics, propulsion, strategies, interstellar asteroids and comets, SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), and rational investigations of UAPs.
Interstellar
Session Co-Chairs Info
Isaac Arthur
President, National Space Society
Isaac Arthur is the host and executive producer of Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur (SFIA) on YouTube, with over a million followers and over 800 episodes covering topics like Colonizing the Solar System, Interstellar Travel, the Fermi Paradox, Artificial Intelligence, Biotech, Cybernetics, and other topics representing possible futures paths and challenges for humanity. Isaac has given guest lectures and presentations to the US Air Force Academy, MIT Lincoln Labs, Read More
Dr. Pascal Lee
Planetary Scientist, Co-founder and Chairman, Mars Institute
Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute, the Mars Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He is also professor of planetary sciences at Kepler Space University, and chief scientist for Ceres Robotics, a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) industry provider. He also serves as the National Space Society’s Vice-President for Planetary Development. Dr. Lee holds an M.E. in geology from the Read More
Interstellar
Session Speakers Info
Mark Cochran
Lead Researcher, Public Capital Foundation
Mark A. Cochran is a researcher at the Public Capital Foundation, where his work focuses on AI alignment, civilizational theory, and the social contract. He has published in AI & Society (Cochran 2025) on the structural limits of rule-based alignment and is developing a research program on how distributed systems maintain coherence across deep time. He studied philosophy, economics, and computer science at Trinity U. and Northwestern U. before earning Read More
Joseph Meany
President, Interstellar Research Group
Joseph Meany is President of the Interstellar Research Group, a nonprofit dedicated to deep exploration of the cosmos. He is a technical consultant in materials science, advising on >$500 million in high-risk research programs. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from The University of Alabama. With a career spanning over 15 years across government, academia, and private industry, Dr. Meany has become a pivotal figure in the materials science that Read More
Erik Seedhouse
Associate Professor Space Operations, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Erik Seedhouse is a professor in Spaceflight Operations at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He holds pilot, scuba, and sky-diving licenses and in his spare time works as an astronaut instructor for the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences, a film consultant to Hollywood, a professional speaker, triathlon coach, and author. He regularly ventures into the mountains and has reached the summits of Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Elbrus, Rainier, Island Peak, Denali, Kosciusko, and in Read More
Leo Shiina
Student, Stanford OHS
Leo Shiina is a sophomore at Stanford Online High School. Since first participating in the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in 2022, he has been submitting proposals every year. In 2026, he won the Grand Prize for Live in a Healthy Space with his project “Synthetic Biology Approaches to Next-Generation Space Nutrition”. He had previously won the Grand Prize in 2023 at the NSS Gerard K. O’Neill Space Settlement Contest. Read More