On 28 January 1986, the world was shaken when the Challenger space shuttle exploded without warning scant minutes after launch.

Stephen Bowen and Alvin Drew carry out maintenance on the International Space Station, 220 miles above the earth.

Space shuttle Discovery arrived at the International Space Station yesterday, making its final visit before being parked at a museum.

The last journey of 'Discovery' represents the grounding of Nasa's ambitions

From a talking sperm-whale at the outset to a sighting of Martin Amis in a surreally-enhanced Yorkshire at the end, Simon Armitage's new collection consists of funny, quirky, piquant prose poems.

After more than 250 days in isolation, three participants of a simulated mission to Mars stepped out to a mock-up of the red planet in Moscow and planted flags in the sand yesterday. The Mars500 experiment, at the Institute for Medical and Biological Problems in the Russian capital, is being carried out with the European Space Agency and China's space training centre.

Renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking once remarked that humankind would need to colonise space within the next century if it was to survive as a species.

The sun in all its illuminating glory has for the first time been photographed on all sides at once in an historic image that could help to revolutionise our understanding of the immense magnetic forces at the burning heart of our own star.

An astronaut has lost his place on Space Shuttle Discovery's final voyage after being injured in a bicycle accident. Timothy Kopra suffered unspecified injuries on Saturday, six weeks before Discovery's planned lift-off. He is on indefinite sick leave.

From tourist trips to the edge of the atmosphere to satellite companies propelling products into the ether, the galactic gold rush is on. And now private firms are making millions from Nasa, says Jerome Taylor

Famously reclusive Neil Armstrong breaks silence to answer the burning question

It's not a stupid question, when you think about it.

The International Space Station flies over the UK tonight, so keep your eyes peeled

A potentially dangerous hydrogen leak occurred as Nasa fuelled Discovery for lift-off yesterday, resulting in yet another delay for the space shuttle's final voyage.