Exploring other worlds at Escape Velocity 2018

Escape Velocity 2018 was in full force on the last weekend of May near Washington, DC. This was the third edition of an annual conference hosted by the Museum of Science Fiction, a nonprofit organization that plans to build a sci-fi shrine in the nation’s capital. Escape Velocity does not attract as many attendees as the District’s Awesome Con , but that doesn’t seem to faze its organizers, who describe it as “the greatest sci-fi con you’ve never heard of.” Beyond entertaining and enlightening, the three-day conference educates its attendees and promotes science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts by covering the history of science fiction and framing its relationship to the real world.

The theme for this year’s event was “Other Worlds,” with Mars and other planetary bodies at the forefront. One of the more popular scientific sessions was a panel discussion about TRAPPIST-1, a nearby star that, as astronomers recently discovered, is orbited by seven planets . The speakers from NASA explained how those planets may contain the building blocks of life and may one day be habitable for humans. The panelists provided an overview of the makeup, sizes, and orbits of the planets and the methods used to detect their existence.

The enthusiasm of panelist Giada Arney , an astrobiologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, was infectious. When asked what life might look like on a TRAPPIST planet, Arney explained that due to a lack of atmosphere, any plant life “might be black in color.” She said the TRAPPIST worlds are indicative of the great number and diversity of planets being discovered across the galaxy and added that the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2020, will be able to study TRAPPIST-1 in some detail.

In another highly attended session, titled “Touch the Sun,” a panel of astrophysicists and engineers described the upcoming Parker Solar Probe. The concept for the mission, which is expected to launch this summer, was initiated 60 years ago by astrophysicist Eugene Parker (see the article by Parker about the physics of the Sun, Physics Today, June 2000, page 26 ). The probe will travel within about 6 million kilometers of our star―closer than any previous human-made object―to study the corona and the solar wind.

The conference recognized two major anniversaries for fans of science fiction: the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, and the 50th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey. For fans of more recent sci-fi, Greg Nicotero—executive producer, director, and special-effects makeup supervisor for The Walking Dead television series—spoke about his work on the hit show.

Other panel discussions covered the habitability of planets within and outside our solar system, the influence of famous science fiction writers, and the survival of women in postapocalyptic sci-fi. The opening events included a film festival, a dance party, and workshops in writing for teens and young adults and in coding for girls.

The exhibit hall was electric, with vendors showing clothing, jewelry, books, and memorabilia. Children and adults posed for souvenir photos with a Tesla automobile, the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, and a green screen on which Star Trek scenes were projected. Klingons, Storm Troopers, Ghostbusters, and other costumed characters roamed the hall.