Expert Voices

SPACE.com invites experts in space exploration, science & technology to provide insightful commentary and informed perspective on news, current events, innovations, big ideas and ongoing research. Expert Voices includes Op-Ed analysis and opinion as well as interesting observations from the field and space exploration efforts around the world.

Related Topics: Expert Voices - Don Lincoln, Expert Voices - Leroy Chiao, Expert Voices - Paul Sutter, Expert Voices - Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Expert Voices - The Kavli Foundation 

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An artist's illustration of a super-Earth with liquid water and white clouds.

Super-Earths are more common and more habitable than Earth. Astronomers are finding more of the billions out there.

By Chris Impey published

Astronomers now routinely discover planets orbiting stars outside of the solar system — they're called exoplanets.

Milky Way Fermi Bubbles extending above and below the Milky Way

Gamma rays from a dwarf galaxy solve an astronomical puzzle

By Roland Crocker published

A glowing blob known as "the cocoon" has puzzled astronomers since it was discovered in 2012.

starry night sky spiraling into bright center

What are wormholes? An astrophysicist explains these shortcuts through space-time

By Dejan Stojkovic published

A wormhole is like a tunnel between two distant points in our universe that cuts the travel time from one point to the other.

shiny object on dark reddish surface

Mars is littered with 15,694 pounds of human trash from 50 years of robotic exploration

By Cagri Kilic published

The spiral galaxy M74 imaged by the NASA/ESA JWST.

The Drake equation for alien intelligence is more important than ever

By David Rothery published

In 1961, the US astrophysicist Frank Drake, who passed away on Sept. 2 at the age of 92, came up with an equation to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way right now.

Four images of an alien planet in blue, red, purple and yellow colors

The James Webb Space Telescope has released its very first exoplanet image – here's what we can learn from it

By Jonti Horner published

The new images reveal JWST will be a fantastic tool for astronomers aiming to improve their knowledge of exoplanets.

the silhouette of a space shuttle against earth's atmosphere in twilight

Outer space is not the 'Wild West': There are clear rules for peace and war

By Kuan-Wei Chen, Bayar Goswami, Ram S. Jakhu, Steven Freeland published

Our increasing reliance on space infrastructure makes modern economies increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of accidents and unlawful or irresponsible acts in space.

A young girl looks at a model of the solar system.

A new way to teach science (op-ed)

By Robert Zubrin published

A new way of teaching science can give students a chance to learn how science really makes its way forward and offer them a chance to mix it up themselves.

Making territorial claims in space is illegal under international law.

Moon mining claims fall into gray area of international law, so how to avoid conflict?

By Michelle L.D. Hanlon published

It's been 50 years since humans last visited the moon, and even robotic missions have been few and far between. But the Earth's only natural satellite is about to get crowded.

spacecraft against black background

After 45 years, the 5-billion-year legacy of the Voyager 2 interstellar probe is just beginning

By Alice Gorman published

The iconic Voyager spacecraft seen through the eyes of an archaeologist.

an artist's depiction of a rocket with the moon in the background

NASA's Artemis 1 mission to the moon sets the stage for routine space exploration beyond Earth's orbit — here's what to expect and why it's important

By Jack Burns published

astronaut kneeling on moon

NASA is launching the 1st stage of the Artemis mission — here's why humans are going back to the moon

By Gretchen Benedix published

With the Artemis program, Earth as a global community has the opportunity to participate and push back the frontiers of human knowledge and innovation.

giant rocket on launch pad with clouds at sunrise

Artemis 1 is the 1st flight of spacecraft set to take humans back to the moon — here's what needs to go right

By Gareth Dorrian published

What does success look like for the Artemis 1 mission?

a telescope dish against a space background

Scientists are turning data into sound to listen to the whispers of the universe (and more)

By Jeffrey Cooke published

Data sonification has powerful applications in research, education and outreach, and also enables blind and visually impaired communities to understand plots, images and other data.

illustration

Astronomers have detected one of the biggest black hole jets in the sky

By Luke Barnes, Miroslav Filipovic, Ray Norris, Velibor Velović published

Spanning more than a million light years from end to end, the jet shoots away from a black hole with enormous energy, and at almost the speed of light.

Private companies have launched dozens of imaging satellites — like the two small boxes in the middle of the photo — into orbit in recent years.

War in Ukraine highlights the growing strategic importance of private satellite companies — especially in times of conflict

By Mariel Borowitz published

Satellites owned by private companies have played an unexpectedly important role in the war in Ukraine.

SpaceX's first Starlink satellite fleet of the year is seen in orbit in a stacked configuration after a successful launch on Jan. 20, 2021.

How SpaceX's Starlink Maritime launch will affect cruise lines and satellite providers (op-ed)

By Nicholas Kyriakides last updated

Other providers will have to dramatically increase their satellite output or adopt similar technology as Starlink Maritime to compete in the cruise line industry over the next few years.

The laws of physics define the orbits of planets.

What makes Newton's laws work? Here's the simple trick.

By Paul Sutter published

Lagrange found that the difference between an object's kinetic energy and potential energy unlocked something deeply profound about the universe.

neutron star shooting beams into space

Unusual 'revived' pulsars could be the ultimate gravitational wave detector

By Paul Sutter published

Astronomers hope to use pulsars scattered around the galaxy as a giant gravitational wave detector. But why do we need them, and how do they work?

An image of the supernova remnant G261.9+5.5 in orange.

A new Australian supercomputer has already delivered a stunning supernova remnant pic

By Wasim Raja, Pascal Jahan Elahi published

Within 24 hours of accessing the first stage of Australia’s newest supercomputing system, researchers have processed a series of radio telescope observations, including a highly detailed image of a supernova remnant.