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Orbital Denial
Friday June 26, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 3 (Workshop Track)
From Peter Hamilton to Neil Stephenson, the weaponized Kessler effect is a major plot device in SF. Is it a real problem at this time? Could a 1750 mile swath of orbital altitude be blocked off deliberately, and what is affected? 
Moderators
avatar for Les Johnson

Les Johnson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH
Les Johnson is a physicist, author, CEO of Infinite Frontiers Consulting, and former Chief Technologist at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. While at NASA, Les was developing the next generation of space technologies, from advanced space propulsion and power to human... Read More →
Guests
avatar for Ken Roy

Ken Roy

STEM
Kenneth Roy is a retired, professional engineer who is currently living in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As a long-time hobby he has been working with the idea of terraforming. He invented the “Shell Worlds” concept as a way to terraform planets well outside a star’s Goldilocks’ zone... Read More →
avatar for Stewart Cobb

Stewart Cobb

STEM
Stewart Cobb designs satellite navigation systems for a living and reads SF&F for inspiration. He earned a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and holds more than a dozen patents. He's been an Air Force officer and a flight controller for the Space Shuttle, but hasn't yet reached orbit... Read More →
avatar for Charles Prael

Charles Prael

STEM
Charles Prael is a long-time fan and west coast SMOF of dubious repute, with a resume that looks like a scarf by its length. At the moment I'm launching a hedge fund that will fund several different space/satellite projects, and may wind up paying for a lunar mining base - among other... Read More →
avatar for Mary Hare

Mary Hare

Author
I’m a wife, mother, and grandmother, who had a four-year stint in the USAF in the Manned SpaceFlight Support Group at the Johnson Space Center in the 80’s, where I met and married my husband, also in the USAF at the time. Since then, almost every job I’ve had has involved computers... Read More →
avatar for Michael Morton

Michael Morton

Author
Michael Morton is a retired USAF space officer and now works for the Space Force as a civilian. He writes award-winning military sci-fi and fantasy and lives in Colorado Springs with his family. When he’s not writing, he enjoys camping and sampling the local adult beverages.
Friday June 26, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 3 (Workshop Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403
  STEM, Panel

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