Kenny Mitchell is a retired NASA engineer of 40 years. Mitchell worked at the Marshall Space Flight Center on the development of the Saturn V rocket that took man to the moon in 1969 and developed Environmental Control and Life Support Systems for Skylab and the International Space Station.

Homer Hickam is a former NASA aerospace engineer, Vietnam veteran, and acclaimed author of 19 books. The 1999 film October Sky was based on his memoir, Rocket Boys. Hickam was responsible for training astronauts for Spacelab and the Hubble Space Telescope launch and repair, as well as serving as payload training manager for the International Space Station.