Homer Hadley Hickam Jr. (born February 19, 1943) is an American author, Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His 1998 memoir Rocket Boys (also published as October Sky) was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky.

Hickam's body of written work also includes several additional best-selling memoirs and novels, including the "Josh Thurlow" historical fiction novels, his 2015 best-selling Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator and in 2021 the sequel to Rocket Boys titled Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky. His books have been translated into many languages.

He was born and raised in Coalwood, West Virginia, graduated from Big Creek High School in 1960, and from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) in 1964 with a BS degree in Industrial Engineering. A U.S. Army veteran, Mr. Hickam served as a First Lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1967-1968 where he won the Army Commendation and Bronze Star medals.

Hickam has been a writer since 1969 after his return from Vietnam. At first, he wrote about his scuba diving adventures, then about the battle against the U-boats along the American east coast during World War II, resulting in his first book, Torpedo Junction (1989). He worked at NASA, specializing in training astronauts on science payloads and extravehicular activities (EVA).

Mr. Hickam has received many awards, including the University of Alabama's Clarence Cason Award and the Appalachian Heritage Writer’s Award. He also received an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Marshall University. He is married to Linda Terry Hickam, an artist and his first editor and assistant. They share their time between homes in Alabama and the Virgin Islands.