American journalist, pilot, and author (1927–1997), Martin Caidin was one of the most prolific popular science writers of the American Space Age. A self-taught aviator who earned his pilot's licence at sixteen, he began publishing books on aviation and space exploration in the 1950s, gaining wide recognition with titles such as Vanguard! (1957) and Countdown for Tomorrow (1957). A co-founder of the American Aeronautical Society and a collaborator of Wernher von Braun, he did much to bring space culture to a general audience. He later turned to science fiction with Cyborg (1972), the novel that inspired the television series The Six Million Dollar Man. His ashes were scattered at Cocoa Beach, Florida, near Cape Canaveral, a fitting tribute to a life dedicated to the conquest of space.