William E. Burrows

William Burrows is Director Emeritus of the Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University. A former reporter for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, Burrows specialties are space and national security issues. He is the author of the following books: Richthofen: a True History of the Red Baron (1969), Vigilante (1976), Deep Black: Space Espionage and National Security (1987), Exploiting Space: Voyages in the Solar System and Beyond (1990), Critical Mass: The Dangerous Spread of Superweapons in the Fragmenting World (1993 with Robert Windrem), Mission to Deep Space (1993) and most recently This New Ocean: A History of the First Space Age (1998),for which he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1999. In addition, Burrows authored a basic reporting text, On Reporting the News, 1977. His articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Foreign Affairs, Harvard Magazine, and Harpers. Currently, Burrows is contributing editor to Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine. Curriculum vitae for William E. Burrows. Email Burrows directly: weburrows@aol.com.

Robert Shapiro, Ph.D.

Professor Robert Shapiro is a research biochemist in Chemistry Department of New York University. His research has centered on the chemistry of nucleic acids, with emphasis on the reactions of DNA and RNA with carcinogens and mutagens. He has also been concerned with the role (if any) of nucleic acids in the origin of life. His article "A Simpler Origin for Life was the cover story of the June, 1997, Scientific American. Books he has authored include Origins: the Skeptics Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth (1986), The Human Blueprint: The Race to Unlock the Secrets of Our Genetic Script (1991), and Planetary Dreams: The Quest to Discover Life Beyond Earth (Wiley, 1999). Shapiro has also published over a hundred and thirty technical and papers. In 2004, he was awarded (with physicist Paul Davies) the Trotter Prize in Complexity, Information and Inference. Passages from Shapiro’s Planetary Dreams were the inspiration for the Alliance to Rescue Civilization. For more information see Robert Shapiro's web page. Email Shapiro directly: rs2@nyu.edu.

Ray Erikson, M.Sc., M.E.

Ray Erikson is the Principal Engineer for Flight Materials, Inc., a Boston-based consulting firm specializing in aerospace environments and effects, material system problem-solving, and new material system development. His background includes systems engineering, structural design, stress analysis and materials development work on the Shuttle, the Space Station, various unmanned NASA probes, Air Force missile warning satellites, and some other space systems. He holds a patent on the truss-hex solar concentrator for space power generation, and currently co-chairs the Space Infrastructure Committee of the NASA Aerospace Technology Working Group. He has published a number of papers and articles on space infrastructure development. More complete biography. Email Erikson directly: ray.erikson@flightmaterials.com

Steven M. Wolfe

Steve Wolfe spent over five years as the legislative aide for space policy to the late Congressman George E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA). A high point of Wolfe’s career in Washington was the drafting and passage of the Space Settlement Act of 1988. Wolfe also served as Executive Director of the Congressional Space Caucus. In the 1990’s he built a career in the management of not-for-profit organizations, and currently serves as an executive for a major trade association based in New York City. Wolfe served on the Board of the National Space Society, his writing on space policy has appeared in The New York Times, Space News, Space Front, and Ad Astra. He has also appeared on radio and television speaking on space topics. Email Wolfe directly: wolfesm@aol.com