Frank H. Winter was born in London, England, emigrating to the United States as a child and becoming a citizen. From 1964–1968 he served in the U.S. Air Force, primarily as a journalist. In 1966 he won the Robert H. Goddard Essay Award and continued his avocation of researching and writing on the history of space flight and rocketry. Winter joined the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 1970 and was named curator of rocketry in 1984. In addition to numerous articles and papers, he is the author of several books, including Prelude to the Space Age—The Rocket Societies: 1924–1940, The First Golden Age of Rocketry, Rockets into Space, and 100 Years of Flight: A Chronicle of Aerospace History 1903–2003. He is a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, was inducted into the International Academy of Astronautics, and is a member of the history committees of the American Astronautical Society and AIAA. Winter retired as a Smithsonian employee in 2007, but continues to serve the Space History Department as curator emeritus. He is a regular contributor to AIAA’s Aerospace America magazine.