Martin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology. Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare. Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation. In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.

I'm a reporter, photographer, and professional novelist. A newspaperman's son, I began my daily newspaper career at The New York Times, where I was hired in 1968 to cover the music beat (folk, blues, and rock), making me the first full-time rock journalist for major media. That made me well-enough known (or notorious, maybe) so that a few years on I switched to writing fiction, mostly detective novels, and have published 50 books, one of which won the prestigious Edgar Award. In reviewing "Night Rituals" (1982), the New Yorker wrote that "Jahn writes with a flourish that is entirely his own." And they didn't say "and he can keep it too" so I've been using that quote ever since. Right now (2012) I'm publishing Kindle editions of my critically acclaimed Bill Donovan Mysteries, which I published from 1982 to 2008. Up so far: "Murder in Coney Island," "Murder in Central Park," "Murder on Theatre Row," "Murder on the Waterfront," and "Murder at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine" (originally published as "City of God"). My Edgar winner, "The Quark Maneuver," also is up in Kindle. I've begun writing a memoir, not so much of me but of my very unusual ancestors, who had this Forest Gumpian ability to find themselves standing next to fame or infamy. An ancestor on the Spanish side, a sailor, went to Japan with Perry, fought in the Civil War under Farragut (and, I like to think, was the man the Admiral was thinking about when he hollered "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead!"), and later helped rescue a man-eating meteorologist who was frozen in the Arctic ice. My newspaperman dad survived a car chase with Dutch Schultz and drank bourbon on a transcontinental train with Harry Truman. I'll write about all this stuff. Wouldn't you? The working title is "Told to Me by a Sailor who Died (I'll Never Know if the Bastard Lied)." I live in New York City.

Jay Barbree (born 1933) is a correspondent for NBC News, focusing on space travel. Barbree is the only journalist to have covered every manned space mission in the United States, beginning with the first American in space, Alan Shepard aboard Freedom 7 in 1961, continuing through to the latest mission, Atlantis' STS-132 mission in May 2010. Barbree has been present for 132 space shuttle launches, and every launch for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo eras. In total, Barbree has been witness to 163 manned space launches. Barbree is the author or co-author of seven books, including two memoirs.