This one was fun as it was supposed to be based upon real science, so we were able to take advantage of more reality based imagery. The idea was to get a good image of an astronaut with a suitcase and just have that with the title. A google search for astronauts turned up this excellent image of a guy looking like he is literally truckin to the launch pad. So we switched the color of his uniform, darkened the visor (one of the only things you cannot do with NASA images is show an astronaut’s likeness) and tried to make the case look a bit more like a suitcase than an oxygen unit of some kind. It really was perfect, but not high resolution enough to go large… so to fill the frame other astronaut legs were added to suggest the story is about mankind, not just the dude with the case.
Of all the Tor Books Chopping Block executed, this was always a favorite of mine.