If you're starting to write and you're new to fandom and convention-going, this panel will help you understand what to expect from social media, fandom and conventions.

In early SF, the planets of the solar system were simply exotic locales for adventure. The next generation of SF writers -- Heinlein, Clarke, and others -- tried for more realism, but their solar systems were very different from the one we know today. What are good examples, and how do the new limitations on what writers can do and still be realistic make for good SF.

What kind of house could an interdisciplinary team create for use on another planet? The eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) is a challenge for college students to do just that. Using this challenge as a starting point, our panel will explore how to approach building dwellings on other planets. http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/xhab_challenge.html