LibertyCon 38: Full Schedule

1:00pm EDT

Friday June 26, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT

Retired USAF Space Operations Officer Michael Morton presents Orbital Space Debris, focusing on what is space junk, why it's a problem, and what can be done about it.

Moderators

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 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

2:00pm EDT

AI Doesn't Want to Kill Us, It Has To! (And We're Going to Let It)

Friday June 26, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Former STEM GOH Dr. Ben Davis presents: AI Doesn't Want to Kill Us, It Has To! (And We're Going to Let It)

Moderators

Dr. Ben Davis

STEM, Past SGoH

Ben Davis has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics and an M.S. in Nuclear Astrophysics from the University of Notre Dame. He taught at the college level for several years on a number of technical subjects ranging from computer programming and math to, of course, astronomy and physics. In the... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

3:00pm EDT

Space Update

Friday June 26, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Les Johnson moderates this update on what has happened in the past year in Space, and what might happen in the coming years.

Moderators

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 →

Friday June 26, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

4:00pm EDT

How NASA Searches for Life

Friday June 26, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Embark on a thrilling journey through humanity’s quest to answer the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe? From wild speculation in pulp novels to today’s high-tech NASA missions, our search for extraterrestrial life has morphed into a dazzling, multi-disciplinary adventure worthy of any sci-fi epic. Discover how NASA Science channels our curiosity with cutting-edge spacecraft that probe the mysteries of the Drake Equation, and how exploring Earth’s own bizarre habitats helps us imagine what alien life might look like. Dive into amazing missions—like OSIRIS-REx, Curiosity, Perseverance, TESS, and Europa Clipper. Recent discoveries have ignited our imaginations with tantalizing hints of life beyond Earth, but the real challenge is just beginning: separating genuine biosignatures from cosmic red herrings. Join us as we look to the future, where new explorations will push the boundaries of what’s possible—and perhaps bring us closer than ever to a universe teeming with life. NASA astrobiologist Dr. Becky McCauley Rench presents.

Guests

Becky McCauley Rench

LibertyCon 38 STEM Guest of Honor, STEM

Rebecca (Becky) McCauley Rench is the Astrobiology Program Scientist in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. She leads the Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (ICAR)), which supports large, interdisciplinary astrobiology research teams, and the Planetary... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

6:00pm EDT

Rare Earths Aren’t Rare! Strategic minerals and Geopolitics

Friday June 26, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

The name “rare earths” is a historical mistake. We’ll talk about the discovery of these elements, why they’re so important to the modern world, and why we (mostly) don’t produce them in the United States. Also a discussion of other strategic minerals (cobalt, titanium, etc.) and where we find them. Stephen Fleming presents.

Guests

Stephen Fleming

STEM, Boostphase

At various times, Stephen Fleming has been paid to be an optical physicist, laser fabricator, software developer, field engineer, product manager, corporate trainer, marketing executive, salesman, general manager, entrepreneur, author, venture capitalist, board member, investment... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

8:00pm EDT

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

Les Johnson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Guests

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Michael Morton

Author

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

8:00pm EDT

The Planetary Brain and the Power Beneath It

Friday June 26, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Artificial intelligence may feel weightless, but the machines behind it are anything but invisible to the engineers who power them. This presentation explores the growing collision between hyperscale AI, massive data centers, electrical infrastructure, cooling systems, and the future of civilization-scale computation. Drawing from both real-world power-system engineering and decades of science fiction—from H. G. Wells and Isaac Asimov to William Gibson and Neal Stephenson—the discussion examines how the “cloud” is actually built from transformers, transmission lines, power electronics, and thermodynamics. The future may not be powered by magic, but by megawatts, cooling water, and infrastructure operating at planetary scale.

Guests

David Bogen

STEM

David Bogen is a veteran power-system engineer whose career spans more than four decades of leadership in transmission network modeling, utility data standards, and real-time operational analytics. He began his career in 1981 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

9:00pm EDT

Surviving the Apocalypse - Preserving the Harvest and Foraging

Friday June 26, 2026 9:00pm - 10:00pm EDT

M - Plaza Ballroom B

Tammie Darden moderates "Surviving the Apocalypse -Preserving the Harvest and Foraging."

Moderators

Tammie Darden

STEM

Tammie Darden is an everyday scientist in charge of a small production lab. Much to her surprise her work and insight has been found useful to story development by author friends.
Academically she continues her studies independently with a special emphasis on food science (which... Read More →

Guests

Tim Bischoff

Author / Owner, Southern Wilds

Tim “Cajun” Bischoff, born in Kentucky and raised in Bourbon country on a dairy farm. Writing along with cooking, fishing and cruising in his restored 1973 Chevelle are some of his passions. Tim has had three short stories published, the newest as author Timothy Hardy in 3 Ravens... Read More →

Bethanne Kim

Author, Publisher

Bethanne Kim is a publisher with the new alternate history magazine “Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond” and a writer in the 1632verse. She also writes about emergency preparedness (including on TheSurvivalMom.com), zombies, being a Scout leader, the US Constitution, and whatever else... Read More →

William Joseph Roberts

Author, Publisher

William Joseph Roberts has been called a Renaissance man, and an insane squirrel wrangler by his peers. Since his enlistment ended, he has pursued careers as an industrial and architectural designer, design engineer, and is now an award-winning author, editor, and publisher with Three... Read More →

Laura Montgomery

Author

Laura Montgomery practices space law and writes science fiction. She writes space opera, lost colony worlds, and bourgeois legal science fiction. Her most recent novel, Planting Life, has been nominated for the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Prometheus Award.

In her legal practice she specializes in regulatory space law, with an emphasis on the FAA’s commercial space transportation regulations and the Outer Space Treaties. She spent over two decades in the FAA’s Office of the Chief Counsel working on space regulatory issues, and ta... Read More →

Kevin Pulliam

STEM

Kevin Pulliam, an Aerospace engineer, farms 130 acres of woods and pasture in North Alabama producing Grass Finished Beef, Forest Raised Pork, and Pastured Poultry and markets his regenerative farmstead’s products direct to the consumer. Regenerative farming improves the land through... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 9:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
M - Plaza Ballroom B Chattanooga Marriott Downtown 2 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37402, USA

STEM, Panel

9:00pm EDT

History of Starfleet Power and Propulsion Systems

Friday June 26, 2026 9:00pm - 11:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Andy Presby presents "History of Starfleet Power and Propulsion Systems" Hard Science and Star Trek Geekery come together for this presentation. Q&A session to follow.

Moderators

Andy Presby

STEM

Andy Presby is a NASA engineer and retired US Navy submarine officer. He consults on future technology for Joelle Presby and other science fiction authors. He has degrees in spacecraft systems engineering and astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Friday June 26, 2026 9:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

10:00pm EDT

War Comes to Sol: Space Fights In Our System

Friday June 26, 2026 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event)

War Comes to Sol: Space Fights In Our System: Eventually, we Terrans will be fighting in the orbitals. Where is the high ground? Where are the strategic points of interest? Panelists postulate the tech levels of the scenario, then discuss the actual orbital mechanics, combat, and dominating the Sol system.

Moderators

Les Johnson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Guests

Devon Eriksen

Author

Devon Eriksen is a recent Chattanooga transplant, marksman, and life-long reader, with a particular fondness for classics from the golden age of science fiction. After growing up with images of the galaxy brought home by his JPL engineer father, he spent most of his career as a software... Read More →

John Ringo

Author, Past LGoH

John Ringo's science fiction is action-oriented and abounding in characters to root for. He is the creator of the New York Times best-selling military science fiction series The Posleen Wars, with over one million copies in print. Ringo is also the author of the far-future science... Read More →

Charles E. Gannon

Author, Past LGoH

Dr. Charles E. Gannon is best known for the Caine Riordan series of hard sf novels, which include multiple best-sellers, 4 finalists for the Nebula, 2 for the Dragon, and a Compton Crook winner. His epic fantasy series, The Vortex of Worlds, has also been an awards finalist and a... Read More →

Karl Gallagher

Author, STEM

Karl K. Gallagher is a systems engineer, currently performing data analysis for a major aerospace company. In the past he calculated trajectories for a commercial launch rocket start-up, operated satellites as a US Air Force officer, and selected orbits for government and commercial... Read More →

Gray Rinehart

Author, Performer, Past GoH

Graham W. "Gray" Rinehart Rinehart is a writer, an editor, a singer/songwriter, and a retired Air Force officer. He is the only person to have commanded a USAF satellite tracking station, written speeches for Presidential appointees, devised a poetic form, and had music on The Dr... Read More →

Friday June 26, 2026 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

10:00am EDT

Can Military Science Fiction Inform Culture?

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

CC - Ballroom E (Main Event)

The stories we tell ourselves shape our culture, and EVERYTHING is downstream of culture. How do we avoid the poor choices that led to the US Civil War and WW1 when warfare was initially viewed as a lark? What do you want YOUR grandkids to remember? Panelists select enduring works as examples of a generational MilSF library, fueled by audience prompts.

Moderators

Melissa Olthoff

Author

Melissa Olthoff spent her youth daydreaming about riding dragons and slaying monsters. After joining the United States Air Force, she might not have gotten to ride any dragons, but she had plenty of real-world adventures over the years—including flying the T-6, becoming a certified... Read More →

Guests

Wil McCarthy

Author

Engineer/Novelist/Journalist/Entrepreneur Wil McCarthy has been a professional writer since the mid-1980s. He is a former contributing editor for WIRED magazine and science columnist for the SyFy channel (previously SciFi channel), where his popular "Lab Notes" column ran from 1999 through 2009. A lifetime member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, he is a two-time winner of the AnLab award, and has been a finalist... Read More →

Brent Roeder

Author, STEM

Brent Roeder, PhD, is a neuroscience researcher that is exploring how to restore damaged memory function. A lifelong geek, he enjoys writing sci-fi and fantasy to relax from work. Very occasionally, he even remembers to finish a story

Monalisa Foster

Author

Monalisa is an award-winning science fiction author whose writing career really began when she taught herself English by translating Heinlein juveniles at the public library. She would copy sentences in English, translate them into Romanian, and then write out new words ten times... Read More →

Kevin Ikenberry

Author

Kevin Ikenberry is a life-long space geek and retired Army officer. As an adult, he managed the U.S. Space Camp program, two Challenger Learning Centers, and served on active duty in space operations before Space Force was a thing. He’s an international bestselling science fiction... Read More →

Andy Presby

STEM

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
CC - Ballroom E (Main Event) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

10:00am EDT

Space Medicine: The long term effects for potential permanent residents of space colonies

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Space Medicine: the long term effects for potential permanent residents of space colonies (assume this would dependent on the where the colony would be - you could address the different aspects that derive from gravity (Moon, Mars, Venus, other planetary moons, etc.) as well as other physiological aspects that would happen to colonists, as well as showing the way towards selection of the preferred physiologies of potential candidates. Also, you could potentially address how physiology might be affected by colonist children born into the space environment.

Guests

Dave Sarnow

STEM

Dr. David Sarnow (Lt Col USAF ret) is an MD, MPH with over twenty years of real-world public health experience in the Air Force and civilian sectors. His hands-on experience with public health planning and preparedness give him a unique perspective on disease and all-hazard respo... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

11:00am EDT

Fusion Primer

Saturday June 27, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Jim Beall presents a primer on Fusion - Where it "began," how we got "here," a run-down of the types of fusion, and then a round-up of most of the current fusion research paths and their relative promises

Moderators

Jim Beall

STEM, Past SGoH

Jim Beall (BS-Math, MBA, PE) has been a nuclear engineer for 50 years, beginning as a nuclear engineering officer in the US Navy. Civilian experience includes design, construction, inspection, enforcement, and assessment with a nuclear utility, an architect engineering firm, and the... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

12:00pm EDT

Electricity, Water, and AI

Saturday June 27, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

As artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and hyper-scale digital infrastructure expands, data centers are becoming one of the defining industrial systems of the 21st century. But these facilities are more than anonymous buildings full of servers—they reshape electrical grids, water resources, regional economics, and even the geography of computation itself. This panel will try to explores the social and infrastructure impacts of hyperscale computing, including energy demand, cooling water consumption, environmental tradeoffs, rural versus urban deployment, and the growing concentration of computational power. The discussion examines how massive computational systems may influence the future of the electric grid, governance, infrastructure, and daily life.

Moderators

Jim Beall

STEM, Past SGoH

Guests

Brian Lee Gnad

Author, STEM

Brian Lee Gnad is a software developer specializing in marine electronics integration. He currently works for a major marine products manufacturer and serves on the National Marine Electronics Association Technical Standards Committee working primarily on the NMEA 2000 and NMEA OneNet... Read More →

David Bogen

STEM

Jonathan Schattke

STEM

Programmer, Nuclear Engineer, and trivial author Jonathan Schattke has been exploring the limits of science and the continuity of humanity for decades.

Greg Eden

STEM

Greg Eden is from New Zealand where he trained in radio communications and has worked in England, Wales, Austria, Ghana Nigeria, Sudan and Chad. He has installed radio equipment in garbage trucks, has been a communications officer for the UK Fire Service, has set up paging networks... Read More →

Stephen J. Simmons

Stephen J. Simmons started writing shortly after he retired from the Navy, primarily because his children had grown too old to listen to bedtime stories and the cats never laughed at the funny bits. He sold over a dozen flash-fiction stories to various online publishing venues... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

1:00pm EDT

Exoplanets: Detection Methodology and Recent Developments

Saturday June 27, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Step into the cutting edge of real world cosmic discovery as NASA’s leading astrobiologist Dr. Becky McCauley Rench guides you through how thousands of newly discovered exoplanets—many stranger than anything in our own solar system—are reshaping our understanding of what worlds can be, how they form, and where life might take hold. This talk dives into the surprising ways planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics work together to decode alien atmospheres, star–planet interactions, and the clues that distinguish lifeless planets from potentially living ones. From hot Jupiters and super Earths, to NASA’s upcoming Roman Space Telescope and the Habitable Worlds Observatory, you’ll get an insider’s look at how today’s science is rapidly catching up with science fiction—and why the next decades may bring the most exciting discoveries in the history of exploring other worlds.

Guests

Becky McCauley Rench

LibertyCon 38 STEM Guest of Honor, STEM

Saturday June 27, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

2:00pm EDT

Where's My Flying Car, Dammit!

Saturday June 27, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Former STEM GOH Dr. Ben Davis presents: Where's My Flying Car, Dammit!

Moderators

Dr. Ben Davis

STEM, Past SGoH

Saturday June 27, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

3:00pm EDT

Roko's Basilisk: A Modern Thought Experiment at the Edge of AI, Ethics, and Internet Folklore

Saturday June 27, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

This presentation explores Roko’s Basilisk, one of the most notorious and controversial thought experiments to emerge from online discussions about artificial intelligence, decision theory, and existential risk. At its core, Roko’s Basilisk asks whether a hypothetical future superintelligent AI might have incentives to punish people who knew about its possible creation but failed to help bring it into existence. Harlan Ellison's story "I have no Mouth and I must Scream" will be discussed as an oddly prophetic story years before Roko proposed his thought experiment.

The presentation will unpack the Basilisk in clear, accessible terms, beginning with the intellectual context in which it appeared. It will explain the assumptions required for the thought experiment to work, including the possibility of an artificial superintelligence having god like powers combined with petty grievances against individual humans who either helped or hindered its creation.

Beyond the technical argument, the talk will also consider Roko’s Basilisk as a cultural artifact. Why did such an abstract and speculative idea become frightening to some readers? What does its spread reveal about online communities, memetic hazards, and the psychological impact of extreme thought experiments?

Guests

Ken Roy

STEM

Saturday June 27, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

4:00pm EDT

Technological Future of War

Saturday June 27, 2026 4:00pm - 4:15pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 3 (Workshop Track)

Past Master of Ceremonies Mike Massa moderates this roundtable on the Technological Future of War and how the steady march of technology makes combat across all spheres more lethal.

Moderators

Mike Massa

Author, Past GoH

Mike Massa has lived an adventurous life, including stints as a sailor, a banker, and a tech-head. He's lived outside the US for several years, beyond the usual military deployments. Mike writes novels and shorts in MilSF, SF, Fantasy, Horror, and non-fiction.

A lover of Liberty Con, he has been attending since 2007. Mike is married with three sons, and a growing cohort of grandsons, who check daily to see if today is the day they can pull down the old lion. Not yet... Read More →

Guests

Chris DiNote

Author

Chris “MOGS” DiNote retired from the United States Air Force as a full colonel with 25 years, 7 months, and 29 days of service, but who's counting? He deployed for Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Noble Eagle, served in South Korea and Germany. Chris is a graduate... Read More →

Rick Partlow

Author

Rick Partlow is an Army veteran with a degree in History from Florida Southern College. He is the author of 51 military SF and space opera novels, including the Dragon Award finalist Direct Fire.

Charles E. Gannon

Author, Past LGoH

Gerald Hall

Author

Gerald Hall has had an extraordinarily diverse background. A lifelong science fiction fan, Gerald is a graduate of the N.C. State University's School of Engineering. After graduation, he served in uniform as part of the Intelligence Community for more than thirty years, deploying... Read More →

Gray Rinehart

Author, Performer, Past GoH

Saturday June 27, 2026 4:00pm - 4:15pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 3 (Workshop Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Round Table

5:00pm EDT

Interstellar Research Group (IRG) (Formerly TVIW) Update Panel

Saturday June 27, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

The IRG Update Panel will cover the recent activities of the Interstellar Research Group along with our vision for the future of space exploration both within our solar system and eventually to planets orbiting other stars. Stephen Euin Cobb moderator.

Guests

Jeff Greason

Author, STEM

I grew up with middle class parents in rural Oregon, with some of my earliest memories being Star Trek, the Apollo 17 launch, and reading classic science fiction. As far as I know, I've always been interested in science and technology. I thought that by the time I was an adult, there... Read More →

Ken Roy

STEM

Les Johnson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Justin C. Feng

STEM

Justin C. Feng is a postdoctoral physicist specializing in general relativity (GR) and gravitation, currently at CEICO at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, Czechia. He obtained his Ph.D. from UT Austin in 2017, and has held postdoctoral positions... Read More →

Doug Loss

STEM

Doug Loss is retired, but was an IT security analyst from Maryville, TN. He has been an SF reader since childhood (more than 55 years) and a war gamer for over 50 years. He's an avid blues music fan and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Interstellar Research Group... Read More →

Martha Knowles

Professional Panelist

Now retired, Martha Knowles was a professional librarian and records management specialist. She was the TVIW Treasurer from 2014-2020, and administrator and Registrar for the first four TVIW symposia. Since TVIW became the Interstellar Research Group, she has continued to be involved... Read More →

Stephen Fleming

STEM, Boostphase

Saturday June 27, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Round Table

6:00pm EDT

Intriguing Rocks on Mars: the Cheyava Falls Potential Biosignature

Saturday June 27, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Join NASA astrobiologist Dr. Becky McCauley Rench for an exploration of one of the most exciting real world discoveries to fire the imagination of science fiction fans: the Cheyava Falls rock found by the Perseverance rover on Mars. This strange, splotchy stone—riddled with organic molecules, hydrated minerals, and chemical patterns reminiscent of microbial energy sources on Earth—has become one of the most intriguing hints yet that ancient Mars could have supported life. In this talk, we’ll journey through the science behind these clues, unravel how scientists evaluate evidence for life using frameworks like the Confidence of Life Detection (CoLD) scale, and discover why this finding represents a thrilling but early step in a much larger quest. Along the way, we’ll connect the cutting edge tools aboard Perseverance to the classic sci-fi themes of alien ecosystems, planetary exploration, and humanity’s drive to answer the ultimate question: Are we alone? Perfect for fans who love when real science is just as awe inspiring as science fiction.

Guests

Becky McCauley Rench

LibertyCon 38 STEM Guest of Honor, STEM

Saturday June 27, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

7:00pm EDT

Waiting for Warp Drives

Saturday June 27, 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Warp drives may or may not be possible. But there are plenty of technologies necessary for deep-space exploration that don’t require any exotic physics, just good old fashioned engineering. We’ll talk about some of the most useful, as well as ways to get from here to here in a time of constrained NASA funding. Jeff Greason presents.

Guests

Jeff Greason

Author, STEM

Saturday June 27, 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

8:00pm EDT

Remote Viewing and the World of Intelligence

Saturday June 27, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Remote Viewing and the World of Intelligence: Learn about the practice, terminology, and data collection capabilities in use today with a focus on the US intelligence community (IC). Find out why the IC was interested in remote viewing and how it was used in actual operations.

Moderators

Gregory Radabaugh

Author

Greg Radabaugh, an author published by Raconteur Press and others, retired from the US Department of Defense after a 44-year career. He now works as a consultant for various commercial and government entities. Prior to his retirement, he was a member of the Department of Defense Senior... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

8:00pm EDT

The Art and Science of Gunsmithing

Saturday June 27, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 3 (Workshop Track)

Master Gunsmith Oren Truitt will moderate this panel discussion on the art and science of gunsmithing.

Moderators

Oren Truitt

Artist

Oren Truitt suffers from chronic insatiable curiosity. With a thirst to learn something new, he’s been a biologist, chemist, photographer, jeweler, gunsmith, actor, stuntman and teacher. Working on adding WRITER to the list. His passion is history. Oren needs a time machine and... Read More →

Guests

Rob Reed

Author

Rob Reed writes science fiction, fantasy, mysteries and thrillers. His fiction has been featured in the best-selling anthologies “Forged in Blood” and “Freehold: Resistance,” both edited by Michael Z. Williamson.

Rob co-edited (with Amie Gibbons) and published the urban... Read More →

Aaron Haskins

Author

A.C. Haskins is an economist, data geek, and combat veteran, and occasionally he writes stuff related to his many interests, including (but not limited to) ancient and medieval history, mythology, martial arts, guns, and theoretical economics. He lives in Michigan with his lovely... Read More →

Michael Z. Williamson

Author

Michael Z. Williamson is an SF author, military consultant, and Editor at Large for Survivalblog. His novels include the popular Freehold universe, and "The Hero" (with John Ringo). He has consulted for productions on Discovery Networks, the Outdoor Channel, and National Geographic... Read More →

Jim Curtis

Author

JL Curtis is a retired Naval Flight Officer, retired engineer in the defense industry, an NRA instructor, and now lives in north Texas writing full time. He has novels out in three different series, The Grey Man (urban fiction), Rimworld (military science fiction), and a new series... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 3 (Workshop Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

9:00pm EDT

Prepping for the Apocalypse - HAM Radio

Saturday June 27, 2026 9:00pm - 10:00pm EDT

M - Plaza Ballroom C

Prepping for the Apocalypse - HAM Radio! Come join some folks who can talk about the importance of amateur radio when the apocalypse arrives!

Moderators

Kevin Pulliam

STEM

Guests

Brian Lee Gnad

Author, STEM

Jay Maynard

Author

Jay Maynard is a lifelong computer geek whose career spans everything from embedded systems — like the ones in microwave ovens — to IBM mainframes. When he’s not in front of a keyboard, he’s on ham radio, serving on the Fairmont, Minnesota city council, tinkering with his... Read More →

Nathan Brindle

Author

Nathan C. Brindle is a senior software engineer with a BA and most of an MA in History.
There is a story behind that, of course. He's worked 30 years for a company in Maryland
you've probably never heard of, despite living in Indianapolis, Indiana, for all but one year
of his lif... Read More →

Greg Eden

STEM

Saturday June 27, 2026 9:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
M - Plaza Ballroom C

STEM, Panel

9:00pm EDT

Redshifted Civilizations, Galactic Empires, and the Fermi Paradox

Saturday June 27, 2026 9:00pm - 10:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Dr. Justin Feng will present a paper presented to the IRG on time dilation and galactic civilizations. Abstract: Given the vast distances between stars in the Milky Way and the long timescales required for interstellar travel, we consider how a civilization might overcome the constraints arising from finite lifespans and the speed of light without invoking exotic or novel physics. We consider several scenarios in which a civilization can migrate to a time-dilated frame within the scope of classical general relativity and without incurring a biologically intolerable level of acceleration. Remarkably, the power requirements are lower than one might expect; biologically tolerable orbits near the photon radius of Sgr A* can be maintained by a civilization well below the Type II threshold, and a single Type II civilization can establish a galaxy-spanning civilization with a time dilation factor of , enabling trips spanning the diameter of the Milky Way within a human lifetime in the civilizational reference frame. We also find that isotropic, monochromatic signals from orbits near the photon radius of a black hole exhibit a downward frequency drift. The vulnerability of ultrarelativistic vessels to destruction, combined with the relatively short timescales on which adversarial civilizations can arise, provides a strong motivating element for the ``dark forest'' hypothesis.

Guests

Justin C. Feng

STEM

Saturday June 27, 2026 9:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

10:00pm EDT

Streaming 103 Workshop

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Learn the basics of the technical and business sides of steaming, to include netiquette, internet security, and personal security as a streamer.

Guests

James Schardt

Author

James Schardt is a 21 year veteran of the US Army as an AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter Armament Systems Repairer and a graduate of Austin Peay State University. He lives in Kentucky with his wife and too many cats. He enjoys shooting muzzleloaders, painting toy soldiers, and miniatures... Read More →

Danette Schardt-Cordova

Gaming

Danette Schardt-Cordova started tabletop gaming at twelve and computer gaming at fourteen with a TRaSh-80 from Radio Shack. Now she regularly streams her gaming (RPGs, Minecraft and whatever Charles(Ghost_Prime) drags her into) under the name Tamriel Mother in between taking care... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

10:00pm EDT

Mad Scientist Guest of Honor Edition Roundtable

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00pm - Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00am EDT

M - Plaza Ballroom A/B

Roundtable discussion of various and timely science topics moderated by Les Johnson. This is a remarkable panel dating back to the earliest LibertyCons. Everyone gets a say but no one gets to say too much. This year the participants will be the current STEM GOH and 4 Past Science Guests of Honor.

Moderators

Les Johnson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Guests

Dr. Ben Davis

STEM, Past SGoH

Stephanie Osborn

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Few can claim the varied background of award-winning author Stephanie Osborn, the Interstellar Woman of Mystery. Veteran of more than 20 years in the civilian space program, as well as various military space defense programs, she worked on numerous space shuttle flights and the International... Read More →

Becky McCauley Rench

LibertyCon 38 STEM Guest of Honor, STEM

Robert E. Hampson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Dr. Robert E. Hampson is a scientist and author whose passion for both neuroscience and storytelling drives his hard science fiction writing. With a Ph.D. in Physiology & Pharmacology, Dr. Hampson has spent over four decades researching how the brain encodes memory and developing... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00pm - Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00am EDT
M - Plaza Ballroom A/B Chattanooga Marriott Downtown 2 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37402, USA

STEM, Round Table

10:00am EDT

Brain Science Fireside Chat

Sunday June 28, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

This year's topic: "Building Brains." Doctors Robert Hampson and Brent Roeder will discuss some of their more exciting moments in emerging brain science.

Guests

Brent Roeder

Author, STEM

Robert E. Hampson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Sunday June 28, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

11:00am EDT

Omnipresent Surveillance at Scale - What's New for 2026

Sunday June 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event)

Omnipresent Surveillance at Scale – What’s new for 2026? Recent examples include fitness trackers on warships, flight and ship tracking, citizen/netizen intelligence networks. Is Hiding Possible Anymore, and can visual, electronics, and logistical signatures truly be hidden? Have any SF entries reflected this? How would realistic Mil SF change? Panelists and audience reflect on the last 12 months of developments, and try to predict what’s next?

Moderators

Mike Massa

Author, Past GoH

Guests

Nathan Toronto

Author

Nathan W. Toronto has taught strategy and planning to military officers for twenty years and is the author of How Militaries Learn and the Saga of the Emerald Moon. He publishes Bullet Points, a military science fiction magazine. Find him at nathantoronto.com or on Blue Sky (@bul... Read More →

LL Richman

Author

L.L. Richman has a diverse career background, having spent more than a decade working in radiation physics, and twice that as a director of film and video. Richman is also a pilot and has close ties to the special forces community.

Richman's series feature the pulse-pounding act... Read More →

Aaron Haskins

Author

Andy Presby

STEM

Gregory Radabaugh

Author

Sunday June 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

11:00am EDT

Who Owns the Moon / Space Mining

Sunday June 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Stephen Fleming presents "Who Owns the Moon / Space Mining" - The last year has seen a flurry of activity in extracting resources from “celestial objects”—the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and comets. How practical are these plans in the near term? And who owns these resources? What laws apply to their extraction and use? How much freedom to operate is there for space miners today, and what laws and policies still need to be addressed?

Guests

Stephen Fleming

STEM, Boostphase

Sunday June 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

12:00pm EDT

Astrobiology - A Planet by Planet Approach on How We Look and What We Could Expect to Find?

Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Join NASA’s leading astrobiologist Dr. Becky McCauley Rench for an exhilarating tour of the most intriguing worlds in our solar system and beyond as we explore the question that has captivated humanity for generations: are we alone? What can the runaway greenhouse of Venus, the dried riverbeds of Mars, the subsurface oceans of Europa and Enceladus, the organic haze of Titan, and the stunning variety of exoplanets across our galaxy tell us together? This talk connects the dots between these worlds, blending frontier science with big-picture imagination. Learn how NASA missions and modern astrobiology guide the search for life—from subsurface seas to distant atmospheres—and what these extraordinary worlds reveal about the possibilities for life elsewhere in the universe.

Guests

Becky McCauley Rench

LibertyCon 38 STEM Guest of Honor, STEM

Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

12:00pm EDT

Low(er) Cost Space and it's Impact on War

Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event)

Low(er) Cost Space and it's Impact on War. SST = $54k/kg, Falcon 9 Heavy =$1400/kg, Starship single use = $450/kg. More payloads, cheaper replacements, practical space warfare? Who has the advantage? Stewart Cobb moderates.

Moderators

Stewart Cobb

STEM

Guests

Rick Partlow

Author

Rick Partlow is an Army veteran with a degree in History from Florida Southern College. He is the author of 51 military SF and space opera novels, including the Dragon Award finalist Direct Fire.

Daniel M. Hoyt

Author, STEM, Past Special GoH

Daniel M. Hoyt is a systems architect for trajectory physics software, when not writing or wrangling royalty calculations. Dan has appeared in premier magazines like Analog and several anthologies, notably the recent Paladins of Valor and Bonds of Valor, with connected stories in... Read More →

Karl Gallagher

Author, STEM

Charles Prael

STEM

Stephen Fleming

STEM, Boostphase

Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

1:00pm EDT

How GPS Really Works

Sunday June 28, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Kevin Ikenberry will present "How GPS Really Works." GPS has made navigating our lives easy. But how does it work? Why do we blame GPS when things go awry? This session teaches the brief history of the GPS system and delves into how the system works -- and how the core principles are things we've known since middle school.

Guests

Kevin Ikenberry

Author

Sunday June 28, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

2:00pm EDT

Rock and Roll: The New Madrid Fault System

Sunday June 28, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

Stephanie Osborn presents Rock and Roll: The New Madrid Fault -- In the middle of North America there is a major fault system, buried under the sediments of the Mississippi River, that has the capability of devastating the central United States. Why do so few people know about it? What caused it? Will it break loose again?

Guests

Stephanie Osborn

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Sunday June 28, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Presentation

2:00pm EDT

Three and a Half Years On: Ukraine/Russian War Lessons Learned

Sunday June 28, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT

CC - Ballroom E (Main Event)

Three and a Half Years On: Has Mil/SF helped up with the UKR/RU War and the Newest Lessons Learned?” We return to this topic because unmanned systems still dominating isn’t new, yet something else (tactics, AI) may be. Software based efficiencies in munitions assignment has come true since last year. What else is new?

Moderators

Rick Partlow

Author

Rick Partlow is an Army veteran with a degree in History from Florida Southern College. He is the author of 51 military SF and space opera novels, including the Dragon Award finalist Direct Fire.

Guests

STEM, Panel

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