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.
Originally planned for Aug. 24, the spacewalk was delayed when NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei experienced a pinched nerve in his neck and had to be replaced for the excursion.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov conducted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Sept. 9 despite a smoke alarm that sounded on the ISS several hours before the excursion.
