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.
HOUSTON — U.S. astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson are prepping for a 2-3-hr. contingency spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), potentially on April 22, to replace a failed backup electronics box responsible for the operations of outstretched solar arrays, thermal control system components and the station’s mobile transporter.
NASA’s first robotic attempt to gather samples of an asteroid completed its critical design review (CDR) last week, clearing the $1.07 billion Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (Osiris-Rex) mission team to begin assembly of the spacecraft for an October 2016 launch.
