I am an illustrator and author living in South Boston, Virginia. Before becoming a free-lance illustrator in 1977, I was art director for the National Air & Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium. Prior to this I was a commercial advertising illustrator. My primary work today entails the writing and illustration of books specializing in astronomical, astronautical and science fiction subjects. My special interest is in exciting young people about science and in recent years I have focused on writing books for young adults. To date I have more than 70 titles to my credit, with three new books appearing later this year. My work has also appeared on scores of book jackets, book interiors and for magazines such as Scientific American, Smithsonian, Air & Space, Sky & Telescope, Newsweek, Natural History, Discover, Geo, etc.

Several of my books have been Book-of-the-Month Club Feature Selections (as well as selections of the Science, Quality Paperback and Astronomy Book Clubs) and have seen numerous translations. I have received more than twenty commendations and awards as well. My "Worlds Beyond" series received the prestigious American Institute of Physics Award of Excellence, The Dream Machines was nominated for the prestigious IAF Manuscript Award and won the Booklist Editor's Choice Award The Art of Chesley Bonestell received a Hugo Award and is the basis for the award-winning documentary film, “A Brush With the Future.”

I designed a set of ten commemorative stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. One of these is attached to the New Horizons spacecraft and is now in the Guinness Book of World Records as the furthest-traveling stamp in history. I have been a production illustrator for motion pictures, mostly notably Dune. I have also done preproduction concepts, consultation and special effects art for David Lynch, George Miller, John Ellis, UFO Films and James Cameron. I have taken part in numerous international space art workshops and exhibitions, including seminal sessions held in Iceland and the Soviet Union (where I had been invited by the Soviet government to take part in the 30th anniversary celebration of the launch of Sputnik), and have lectured on space art and space history in the U.S., France, Japan, Italy and Great Britain. I have been on the faculty of the International Space University. My original paintings are in numerous private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Paul Allen Family Trust.

I am the art director for Black Cat Weekly, a contributing editor for Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine, a member of the history committee of the American Astronautical Society, a Life Member, Fellow and past Trustee of the International Association for the Astronomical Arts and a past Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society.