Honors and awards

“20001 Marinakoren”
The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after me. The asteroid, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, was discovered in 1991 by Masaru Arai and Hiroshi Mori, amateur astronomers in Japan.

“Communicating wonder”
I am featured in a display at Arizona's Lowell Observatory, known for the discovery of Pluto in 1930 and many other astronomical advancements.

Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award
2023 winner for “The Existential Wonder of Space”

The Best American Science and Nature Writing, 2021
Featured story: “Why SpaceX Wants a Tiny Texas Neighborhood So Badly”

The National Press Club’s Michael A. Dornheim Award
2020 honorable mention for “reporting on the various—and unique—aspects of the nation’s space program”

Interviews and such

The Open Notebook: Come Again? How to Steer Scientist Sources Away from Jargon - May 13, 2025

Where We Live podcast: The Billionaires Are Going to Space - September 6, 2024

My First Byline newsletter: Marina Koren — April 15, 2024

Radio Atlantic: During the Eclipse, Don’t Just Look Up — April 4, 2024

The TechTank Podcast from Brookings: The road back to the Moon - March 25, 2024

KQED: Rare Solar Eclipse Coming to the Bay Area — October 13, 2023

The Atlantic Daily: A Cozy Whodunit Series to Revisit (Entertainment musts from Marina Koren) — August 13, 2023

Marina Koren on Rethinking the “Overview Effect” — February 13, 2023

Radio Atlantic: Our Strange New Era of Space Travel — December 29, 2022

Off-Nominal, Episode 87 - Grippy Socks — December 8, 2022

The Big Story Podcast: a Canadian telescope found something in space we don't understand - August 8, 2022

Are We There Yet? Podcast: Oh the things we can see, thanks to JWST - July 19, 2022

KQED: The James Webb Telescope Reveals the Edges of the Universe - July 14, 2022

Off-Nominal Happy Hour - January 13, 2022

UD Magazine: Notes From the Frontline - May 19, 2020

1A on NPR - From The Moon To Mars: NASA’s Project Artemis - March 3, 2020

NPR Morning Edition: NASA's New Horizons probe makes history — January 2, 2019