What's a 100 Year Starship you ask? Well, it's an initiative to push human kind toward interstellar travel lead by retired NASA Astronaut / M.D. / Star Trek guest star Mae Jemison. According to the official initiative mission statement: 100 Year Starship will pursue national and global initiatives, and galvanize public and private leadership and grassroots support, to assure that human travel beyond our solar system and to another star can be a reality within the next century.  100 Year Starship will unreservedly dedicate itself to identifying and pushing the radical leaps in knowledge and technology needed to achieve interstellar flight while pioneering and transforming breakthrough applications to enhance the quality of life on earth. We will actively include the broadest swath of people in understanding, shaping, and implementing our mission.

"The 100 Year Starship™ will make the capability of human travel beyond our solar system to another star a reality over the next 100 years. 100YSS™ will embark on a journey across time and space …  If my language is dramatic, it is because this project is monumental. And our team is both invigorated and sobered by the confidence DARPA has in us to make interstellar flight a reality." Says Mae Jemison

Okay, we're sold!

The 100 Year Starship 2012 Public Symposium not only features guest talks by both Nichelle & LeVar, but also includes lectures by Johnnetta B. Cole, PhD from the Smithsonian institute, Jill Tarter, PhD from SETI, Journalist Miles O'Brien (no, not that Miles O'Brien), and many more. The Symposium runs September 13 - 16, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Houston. Seems like the logical place, right?

You can check out the full Symposium guest list and speaker tracks on the official website here.