Les Johnson is a physicist and the author of numerous popular science and science fiction books. He is also the Senior Technical Adviser for NASA's Advanced Concepts Office at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he serves as the Principal Investigator for the Near Earth Asteroid Scout solar sail mission that will launch in 2018. While at NASA he has managed the Interstellar Propulsion Research Project, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Program, and the Science Programs & Projects Office. He has thrice received NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal, and holds four space technology patents.

Joseph E. Meany, PhD, is a laboratory consultant and is on the organizing committee of the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop, Oak Ridge, TN. Meany's research has focused on the development and manufacture of conductive carbon-based molecules in electrical circuits, a quickly developing subfield within nanotechnology. He has written articles for Baen Books and has appeared as a contributor in Nature Chemistry and Chemical and Engineering News.