Principal Author: John K. Strickland Jr
John Strickland has been an active member of space and science-related organizations since 1961, when he joined the American Rocket Society as a student member. In 1976 he joined both the National Space Institute and the L-5 Society ­ – the “parents” of the National Space Society (NSS). He has been a member of the NSS Board of Directors for 3 terms, starting in 2004, as well as an Advocate with the Space Frontier Foundation. He created the Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award for the National Space Society in 1988, and has managed the award from its inception. Since 1976 John has produced articles for The Space Review, NASAWatch, L5 News, Ad Astra, Space News, The Humanist, and various local and regional publications. He initiated this book project as a paper: “Access to Mars” in 2010.

John was born in Manhattan and lived for 30 years in western New York before moving to Austin, Texas in 1976 where he still resides. He received a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Biology from S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo in 1967, and a second B.A. in Computer Science from St. Edwards University in Austin in 1986. He worked for 20 years as a programmer and senior analyst for the Texas Dept. of Transportation.

Co-Author: Sam Spencer
Sam Spencer is Chief Technology Officer at Queensland Pacific Metals, an innovative technology company focusing on resources development. Sam is also the Founder, Director and Principal of Etiam Engineering, a specialist engineering consulting firm working with private in-space companies to industrialize space-based production of Life Support / Propellants and Metals / Plastics. Sam has over 20 years’ experience in both the operation, design and construction of multiple complex multi-billion dollar processing plants in the mining/metals industry (including uranium, copper, nickel, cobalt, fertilizers, etc) and in the oil/gas industry. Sam has a B.Eng (Chem) with honours, a MBA (Technology) and is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Fellow of IChemE.

Sam joined the effort in 2016 and has used his engineering knowledge to develop complex simulations to realistically model In-Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU) processes to produce fuels, metals and life support requirements on Mars, the Moon and on asteroids.

Primary Artist: Anna Nesterova
Anna Nesterova is a visual artist, 3D artist, designer and illustrator. Her creative abilities range from watercolor painting to 3D computer animation. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, she studied 3D computer animation in Auckland, New Zealand, and now resides in Tel Aviv, Israel. She has been actively involved in illustrating Space Development since March of 2013, creating 3D visualizations of proposed new space technology. She created many of the fine details in the images, and her final images are all rendered, making them look as sharp as movie frames or photos. From the hundreds of her excellent images the very best ones have been selected for this book.