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Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

The Hill

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Could sending an Israeli and an Arab to the moon spark peace on Earth?  

Recent events in the Middle East and the reaction to them globally suggest that a joint American-Israeli-Arab mission to the moon is needed now more...

latest 1

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Japan's planning its first lunar steps with the Artemis program

The United States and Japan have entered into an agreement that will change the course of space exploration. 

21.04.2024 10

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Elon Musk, SpaceX and benevolent megalomania 

History has given megalomania a bad name.

14.04.2024 5

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Artemis astronauts should add a Zoom call for the ages to their schedule

The lunar Zoom call could be part of a worldwide STEM education program related to the Artemis III expedition.

07.04.2024 10

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Why does Obama oppose Elon Musk’s plan for a Mars colony?

Musk, Bezos and others in the commercial space sector are keen to explore and settle space and take care of Earth.

31.03.2024 10

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

SpaceX Starship’s third flight was not only a success, it was awesome

Starship’s awe-inspiring capacity is without dispute. 

24.03.2024 20

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Biden’s tax proposals would hurt commercial space

Either the United States, and by extension the world, will enjoy a future of limitless possibilities fueled by opening space to business, or it will...

17.03.2024 40

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Richard Truly and the death of the Space Exploration Initiative

His term as NASA administrator during George H. W. Bush’s presidency was fraught with controversy.

10.03.2024 4

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Could Elon Musk’s Mars colony turn a profit?

Unlike the moon and asteroids, the answer to that question is not immediately obvious.

03.03.2024 30

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

The first US moon landing in decades validates NASA’s commercial goals

Nova-C’s successful landing represents the first success of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program approach to lunar exploration.

25.02.2024 30

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Axiom 3’s return to Earth comes with a potential cancer breakthrough

Hope doesn’t begin to describe the prospect of adding yet another weapon in the war on cancer.

18.02.2024 10

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Commercializing Mars exploration could be NASA’s best bet

The idea of commercializing Mars exploration will have profound implications for how NASA handles voyages beyond the Earth-Moon system, even up to the...

11.02.2024 10

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Trump’s revival of a US missile defense plan is a job for the Space Force

If former President Trump wins the 2024 election and carries out his promise to deploy a modern version of an SDI system, he should order the...

04.02.2024 20

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Japan’s moon landing sets the stage for humanity's increasingly lunar future

Soon, people will walk on the lunar surface, making the moon a new frontier of human endeavor.

28.01.2024 30

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

NASA’s approach to returning to the moon: Better safe than sorry

If it means that a return to the moon takes longer and costs more, so be it.

21.01.2024 5

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

The US should secure strategic positions between the Earth and the Moon before China

The United States military could secure the Earth-moon Lagrange Points — areas where the gravities of the Earth and moon cancel out — against the...

07.01.2024 7

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Now, it’s America’s turn to land on the moon. Again. 

If all goes well, 2024 will mark America’s return to the moon and prove that human beings are still capable of accomplishing great things.

31.12.2023 9

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Biden's unnecessary feud against Musk imperils America’s space effort

The prospect of the feud delaying or even derailing America’s return to the moon is a threat to national security. 

24.12.2023 20

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

NASA and China are competing for space allies in the Middle East

The NASA-Chinese race to the moon has taken on a diplomatic dimension.

17.12.2023 3

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Henry Kissinger and the birth of space diplomacy

Kissinger was instrumental in arranging the world tour by the Apollo 11 astronauts as a way to showcase American democracy, freedom and...

10.12.2023 20

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

When astronauts become farmers: Harvesting food on the moon and Mars

Because of Project Artemis, NASA is eager to find ways for future lunar explorers to grow their own food.

03.12.2023 1

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

SpaceX’s Starship could be a few tests away from its ultimate goal

But, in the end, we get a spaceship that will take humankind to the moon, Mars and beyond.

26.11.2023 6

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Could Musk’s Mars colony be a base for asteroid miners?

For a long time, Musk has dreamed of setting up a Mars settlement, even going so far as to wish that he might die on the Red Planet “just not on...

19.11.2023 6

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

How United Launch Alliance’s new rocket expands the commercial space race

The Vulcan Centaur already has some important customers lined up.

12.11.2023 10

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Great Britain’s first commercial crewed spaceflight is in the works

Somewhere, the late Arthur C. Clarke must be smiling.

05.11.2023 2

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

India’s 2040 moon landing could make it a space superpower

The scope of New Delhi’s space ambition is breathtaking, to put the matter mildly.

29.10.2023 5

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Is Elon Musk’s SpaceX the rocket company to rule them all?

Elon Musk has dominated the launching of things and even people into space, and some people think it’s a problem.

22.10.2023 8

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Exploring a metal-rich asteroid could launch the start of space mining

One estimate suggests that the riches of the asteroid Psyche may be worth $10 quintillion.

15.10.2023 6

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Has the James Webb Space Telescope found signs of life on Europa?

The presence of carbon dioxide is one more piece of evidence that Europa’s subsurface ocean may be an abode of life.

08.10.2023 20

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

What would China’s collapse mean for the race to the moon?

With no space race and no threat of a Chinese space hegemony, supporters of the Artemis program will have to scramble for other reasons to return to...

02.10.2023 40

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

Germany and Venezuela have been chosen for teams in the US-China space race

Two recent events illustrated how Project Artemis has become an instrument of international diplomacy for the United States and how China is trying to...

24.09.2023 7

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

The time JFK tried to make the space race a partnership

What caused President Kennedy to switch from racing the Soviets to the moon to proposing a joint Soviet-American moon mission?

17.09.2023 6

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

SpaceX is the best bet for the commercial space station Earth needs 

NASA already has contracted SpaceX to build a lunar lander based on its massive Starship rocket. Elon Musk dreams of using a fleet of Starships to...

10.09.2023 5

The Hill

Mark R. Whittington, Opinion Contributor

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