Mark is based in Houston, where he has written on aerospace for more than 25 years. While at the Houston Chronicle, he was recognized by the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation in 2006 for his professional contributions to the public understanding of America's space program through news reporting. He has written on U. S. space policy as well as NASA's human and space science initiatives.
Mark was recognized by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and Headliners Foundation as well as the Chronicle in 2004 for news coverage of the shuttle Columbia tragedy and its aftermath.
He is a graduate of the University of Kansas and holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Kansas State University.
DART separated from its Falcon 9 second stage just less than 56 min. after launching, a milestone followed by signal acquisition by the APL mission operations center 70 min. after liftoff.
The mission is a bold attempt to demonstrate whether a spacecraft traveling at high velocity can slam into an asteroid with enough kinetic energy to knock it off course—an ability that could one day enable humanity to counter objects that pose an impact threat to Earth.
