Frank Ernest Rom Sr. was an engineer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and it successor, the National Air and Space Administration (NASA). He wrote many papers on the uses of nuclear propulsion for rockets for interplanetary travel. In the 1970s, he was involved in NASA's exploration of solar, wind and tidal energy sources as alternative to fossil fuels, and found his own solar energy company, Rom-Aire Solar Energy Products, based on his patents for air-based solar heating and collecting systems.