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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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3d illustration of an atom and quarks

A 'Quarkonium Spectrum' of Exotic Particles Might Lurk in the Universe, So Why Can't We Find Them?

By Paul Sutter

There are some odd little particles out there that are bound by the strong nuclear force, but physicists can barely get a glimpse of them before they flit out of existence.

On June 5-6, 2012, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory collected images of one of the rarest predictable solar events: the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun.

Why We Need to Get Back to Venus

By Paul K. Byrne.

Just next door, cosmologically speaking, is a planet almost exactly like Earth.

India's Chandrayaan-2 Moon mission blasts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on 22 July 2019.

India Has It Right: Nations Either Aim for the Moon or Get Left Behind in the Space Economy

By Nicholas Borroz

Space is poised to become a much bigger business, and both companies and countries are investing in the technological capability to ensure they reap the earthly rewards.

wildfires burn the amazon rainforest

Amazon Wildfires Are Horrifying, But They're Not Destroying Earth's Oxygen Supply

By Scott Denning

Even if the entire Amazon rainforest burned down, we'd be okay.

NASA's new Artemis program aims to land the first woman on the moon in 2024. Here's a look back at the history of women and the moon in literature.

How Women and the Moon Intertwine in Literature

By Sara Read, Catie Gill

Women have long been associated with the moon and it is no wonder, then, that the moon has stimulated some incredible literature by female writers.

Hubble observed this tiny galaxy hosting a supermassive black hole

Astronomers Solve the Mystery of Small Galaxies with Monster Black Holes

By Paul Sutter

The discovery may reveal a crucial link between the evolution of black holes and galaxies.

NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

Who Owns the Moon?

By Frans von der Dunk

A space lawyer answers this apparently common question.

Commercial use of lunar polar volatiles provides an access point to a supply line of in-space propellant.

A Walk on Future-Moon — July 20, 2044 (Op-Ed)

By David Sky Brody

Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong travel to the Saturn V rocket, ready to lift off and head for the moon.

For All Humankind: The National Space Society and ISDC 2019

By Bruce Pittman

The NSS and the International Space Development Conference of June 2019.

NASA is making a new effort to encourage women to pursue STEM careers.

Women are Less Supportive of Space Exploration — Getting a Woman on the Moon Might Change That

By Wendy Whitman Cobb

Women have been historically excluded from the space program but getting a woman to the Moon may change that.

asteroids in space

Five Reasons Future Space Travel Should Explore Asteroids

By Dimitri Veras and James Blake

While the world reflects on the first flight to the moon and our future on Mars, we think asteroids — the so-called "minor planets" — deserve recognition.

symmetric abstract shapes

Breaks in the Perfect Symmetry of the Universe Could Be a Window Into Completely New Physics

By Paul Sutter

If this fundamental symmetry of the universe doesn’t hold, it could break open new physics.

The Planetary Society will launch its second solar sailing spacecraft, LightSail 2 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on June 24, 2019. Here's what to expect.

What to Expect When LightSail 2 Launches into Space

By Jason Davis

The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft is finally ready to attempt flight by light. Here's what to expect from the June 24 launch!

abstract physics

Einstein's Quest to 'Know God's Thoughts' Could Take Millennia

By Don Lincoln

Unifying all the forces and particles would require a particle accelerator far more powerful than humans have ever built.

Geminid meteors shower downward on a December night in a remote part of Virginia.

The Tell-Tale Clue to How Meteorites Were Made, At the Birth of the Solar System

By William Herbst and James Greenwood

April 26, 1803 was an unusual day in the small town of L'Aigle in Normandy, France — it rained rocks.

An artist's depiction of a black hole.

What Is the Black Hole Information Paradox?

By Paul Sutter

The universe really likes its information — but black holes pose a huge paradox physicists can't yet solve.

When (if) we go back to the Moon we need some rules on behavior.

Five Ethical Questions for How We Choose to Use the Moon

By Evie Kendal

The moon has always served as an inspiration for humanity, and there are many potential benefits for further exploration of our planet's rocky satellite.

This simulated view of the large-scale structure of the universe shows the vast cosmic web of galaxies, as well as the dark, empty expanses of the cosmic voids in between.

Listen to the Void: Why Cosmic Nothingness Has So Much to Say

By Paul Sutter

At the very largest scales — zooming out from solar systems, stellar clusters and even galaxies — a surprising pattern emerges in nature.

How difficult would it be to move our planet into another orbit?

Could We Move the Entire Planet Earth to a New Orbit?

By Matteo Ceriotti

The big move could help our rocky planet escape the expanding sun and prevent a collision with Jupiter.

An infrared view of the constellation Carina taken by the WISE telescope.

How an Inflating Universe Could Create a Multiverse

By Paul Sutter

It's a perennial sci-fi favorite: other worlds, other universes, other possibilities, right beyond the bounds of the known cosmos or just a flick of a magic device away.