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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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'Black holes' with Planck hearts would lack a true event horizon (like the one illustrated in this image).

Black holes could be dark stars with 'Planck hearts'

By Paul Sutter

Black holes may not be black or holes, a new theory proposes.

earth

A billion years from now, a lack of oxygen will wipe out life on Earth

By Matthew Warke

Earth will not be able to support and sustain life forever.

Illustration of the lunar gateway.

Artemis: How ever changing US space policy may push back the next moon landing

By Gareth Dorrian

History shows just how vulnerable space programmes, which require years of planning and development spanning several administrations, are.

mars 2020 perseverance rover

How did NASA's Martian rover come to land in a crater named after a tiny Balkan village?

By Robert Greenberg

The villagers apparently first dismissed this as fake news.

mars 2020 perseverance

The Perseverance rover may be on Mars, but there's a lot we already know about from meteorites on Earth

By James Scott

NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully touched down on Mars Feb. 18, and has already begun beaming back images.

The galaxy cluster Abell 383 (at the center of this image) is so massive that it bends the light from objects behind it, acting as a cosmic magnifying glass.

The search for dark matter gets a speed boost from quantum technology

By Benjamin Brubaker

Nearly a century after dark matter was first proposed to explain the motion of galaxy clusters, physicists still have no idea what it’s made of.

a black hole

Scintillating discovery: These distant 'baby' black holes seem to be misbehaving — and experts are perplexed

By Kathryn Ross, Natasha Hurley-Walker

Radio images of the sky have revealed hundreds of “baby” and supermassive black holes in distant galaxies, with the galaxies’ light bouncing around in unexpected ways.

Future astronauts will visit Mars.

Europe is recruiting astronauts. Here’s what it takes to become one

By Elisa Raffaella Ferrè

For the first time in 11 years, the European Space Agency (Esa) is recruiting new astronauts.

Perseverance in action

Perseverance Mars rover: how to prove whether there's life on the red planet

By Samantha Rolfe

We'll soon be able to properly start asking the question: "Are we alone in the universe?"

Artist impression of Mars Insight.

Mars InSight: why we'll be listening to the landing of the Perseverance rover

By Benjamin Fernando

As I write this, NASA's Perseverance Rover is hurtling toward Mars at a speed of more than 80,000 km/h and is set to land at the Red Planet on February 18.

mars perseverance art

'7 minutes of terror': A look at the technology Perseverance needs to survive landing on Mars

By Chris James

This month has been a busy one for Mars exploration. Several countries sent missions to the red planet in June last year, taking advantage of a launch window.

A view of Mars on Sept. 25, 2020, as seen from the Philippines.

How Mars became the prize for a new space race — and why China is hellbent on winning it

By Steffi Paladini

Looking at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new space race, this one aimed at Mars.

Abstract illustration of the early universe and quantum physics.

Superpowerful 'oscillon' particles could have dominated the infant universe, then vanished

By Paul Sutter

A weird, super-powerful particle that's not truly a particle could have dominated the universe when it was just a second old, releasing a flood of ripples that permeated all of space-time.

A view of Mars from a NASA rover.

As new probes reach Mars, here's what we know so far from trips to the Red Planet

By Tanya Hill

Three new spacecraft are due to arrive at Mars this month, ending their seven-month journey through space.

Perseverance touches down.

Exploring Mars: How scientists prevent Earth's microbes from contaminating other planets

By Thomas Cheney

Both missions intend to search the planet for signs of life.

Getting Martian rocks and samples back to Earth is the primary goal of the Mars 2020 mission.

Bringing Mars rocks to Earth: With NASA's Perseverance Rover landing soon, a lead scientist explains its tech and goals

By Jim Bell

What we’re looking for is evidence of past life, either direct chemical or organic signs in the composition and the chemistry of rocks, or textural evidence in the rock record.

The greenhouse effect and plate tectonics are essential for maintaining water on the Earth’s surface..

Why is the Earth blue?

By Guillaume Paris, Laurette Piani

The Earth has been blue for over 4 billion years because of the liquid water on its surface.

ham the chimp

Apes, robots and men: The life and death of the first space chimp

By Alice Gorman

A person falling into a black hole and being stretched while approaching the black hole’s horizon.

Curious kids: Could a human enter a black hole to study it?

By Leo Rodriguez, Shanshan Rodriguez

nasa's space launch system sls illustration

SpaceX vs NASA: Who will get us to the moon first? Here's how their latest rockets compare

By Gareth Dorrian, Ian Whittaker

No-one has visited the Moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race.