AIAA ISU Distinguished Lecture Jim Cavera

When:  Oct 20, 2020 from 18:00 to 19:00 (CST)
Associated with  Student Members

RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKBJcg8w2O9h_RYE0VYBW26AcQQ0PLXVB60lfAHbWJsZBMXg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Tuesday, October 20
th at 6:00 pm-7:00 pm (Central Time)

Iowa State Branch Distinguished Lecture

Future Propulsion: Nuclear Fission, Fusion, and Beyond

By

Jim Cavera

Jim Cavera is a senior engineer with Blue Origin. He has undergraduate degrees in optical engineering and physics, and his graduate work was in nuclear engineering and aerospace engineering, during which he explored the use of dense plasma focus devices for interstellar travel. He has served for many years on AIAA's Nuclear and Future Flight technical committee and is currently its publication director. His current research is in neutronics and MHD codes for fusion device simulation.

Nuclear propulsion promises performance many orders of magnitude better than chemical propulsion. Chemical propulsion can give us the moon, but nuclear propulsion can give us the solar system and even the stars. In this talk, I will discuss the theoretical underpinnings of nuclear propulsion, the historical experiments, and the prospects for the future. At the discretion of the organizers, I can focus on fission, fusion, or other future concepts.

Meeting will be over Zoom. The connection information will be provided in the confirmation email after RSVP/Registration.