Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2009)

Embedded Topical Meeting at the ANS 2009 Summer Meeting

June 14-18, 2009     Atlanta, GA     Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel

About the Meeting

For 25 years, the space nuclear community has gathered in Albuquerque each February for the Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion, which in recent years has been joined by other conferences on advanced space systems technologies to form the Space Technologies and Applications International Forum (STAIF). Unfortunately, STAIF will not be held in 2009. Not wishing to lose the momentum and positive collaborative environment established by STAIF, the Aerospace Nuclear Science and Technology (ANST) Technical Group of the American Nuclear Society is pouring a great deal of effort into organizing a top-notch embedded topical meeting in 2009. To best meet the needs of the space nuclear community, and to ensure that the synergistic environment established by STAIF is maintained, former sub-conferences incorporated in the STAIF umbrella are encouraged to participate in the NETS-2009 conference.

NETS-2009 will be the third topical meeting organized by ANST, following the highly successful 2005 and 2007 Space Nuclear Conferences. NASA is currently developing capabilities for unmanned and manned missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Strategies implementing nuclear based power and propulsion technology, as well as radiation shielding protection, will be an integral part of successful missions of these types.

NETS-2009 will provide a communications network and forum for information exchange for the wide cross section of research and management personnel from government, industry, academia, and the national laboratory system that are involved in space nuclear activities. To this end, the meeting will address topics ranging from overviews of current programs and plans to detailed issues related to space travel such as nuclear-based power and propulsion systems designs, materials, testing, safety, space environmental effects and nuclear power system radiation shielding for humans and electronic components, and human factor strategies for the safe and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants. Additionally, NETS will host a dedicated discussion forum on Space Nuclear Propulsion, boasting key speakers from government, industry and academia to discuss historical applications and key areas for research and development.

This conference will have full-length, peer-reviewed technical papers that will be published on a CD-ROM, available at the meeting. Papers of archival quality will be recommended for publication in a special issue of Nuclear Science & Engineering or Nuclear Technology. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company has graciously provided support for the NETS-2009 Proceedings CD-Rom.

NETS-2009 is an embedded topical meeting organized by the Aerospace Nuclear Science and Technology Technical Group, a professional division of the American Nuclear Society. Co-sponsorship is provided by the American Nuclear Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.