Legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, author of such
classics as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, passed
away Tuesday at age 91. Bradbury often wrote of visiting other
worlds; now, two Baylor graduates are working together to find
the physics and engineering necessary that would make that idea
a reality, allowing for true interstellar travel. Dr. Richard
Obousy, PhD ’08, and Dr. Andreas Tziolas, PhD ’09, are two of
the founding board members of the Icarus Interstellar
Organization, a nonprofit organization launched last year with a
goal of realizing interstellar flight before the year 2100.
Obousy is the group’s president and primary propulsion senior
scientist; Tziolas is a vice president and project leader for
two of Icarus’ eight research projects. The volunteer-driven
research group is studying various means of propulsion
technologies. In a detailed interview with The Atlantic, Tziolas
described the team’s approach: “When we started up, one of our
first objectives was to raise up this n