Worlds with the mass of Neptune are the most likely planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems, scientists have found in a pioneering new study co-authored by Kiwi researchers.

Speaking out for the first time since he was evacuated from Antarctica, the former astronaut admits he didn't want to give up his goal of reaching the South Pole.

It sounds like an idea that should remain firmly in the realm of Hollywood but NASA thinks one day we might need to nuke any Earth-bound asteroids to save humanity.

As 2016 draws to a close, the NZ Science Media Centre picked some of the biggest national and international science stories that made headlines

The Rocket Lab's first stage booster rocket has passed a trial putting the company closer to the test launch of its Electron vehicle

"The rocket's the easy part. It's people who really throw a monkey wrench into things."

There are an estimated one hundred million pieces of space junk floating around Earth.

Hollywood has long been fascinated with the idea of communicating with space aliens. But is it even possible? Or wise?

"They were glowing balls flying through the air."

SpaceX is completing "the final steps necessary to safely and reliably return to flight".

Source: Virgin Galactic. More than two years after one of its spacecrafts crashed, killing the co-pilot, Virgin Galactic sent its SpaceShipTwo back in the air this weekend for its first "glide flight." Taking off from the Mojave Air and Space Port on Saturday morning, the spacecraft flew for about an hour tethered to the belly of its mothership, known as WhiteKnightTwo. Then pilots released the spacecraft, which did not fire its engines but glided safely down back to the ground.

WATCH: Virgin Galactic performs an unpowered "glide flight" of SpaceShipTwo before landing safely.

The former astronaut, who became ill while visiting Antarctica, has been told to rest up in Christchurch while congestion in his lungs clears.

Amazing NASA photos have revealed new land off the coast of Kaikoura, raised out of ocean the by last month's 7.8 magnitude earthquake

Sending cargo into space has just got a whole lot easier.

History-making astronaut Buzz Aldrin has always set his sights on the stars.

New Zealand is pumping more cash into the world's most ambitious science and IT project, bringing its investment in the gigantic Square Kilometre Array to more than $2 million.

NASA is calling on the public for help in solving a very important, but slightly less glamourous issue.

Meet the aspiring 'Martian' willing to give up her life to be the first woman on Mars.

COMMENT: The question of whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe has been asked by people for many years.

It's impossible. But science appears to say it's happening. A prototype space engine seems to be producing energy from nothing.

Trump has said he wants to send people back to the moon, slashing Nasa's climate change budget.

The new ISS crew members are NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russia's Oleg Novitskiy and France's Thomas Pesquet.

A chance to meet the world's most famous living moon walker was not living up to any of my wildly unrealistic hopes and expectations.

no vid FULL MOON: A picture of the moon taken by photographer Cynthia Qiu. PHOTO/CYNTHIA QIU 141116ACW01bop Local astronomers and p

Microbiologist Steve Pointing has searched for life in the world's most extreme deserts. His findings will help Nasa prove that life once existed on Mars.

Radiation sickness. Brittle bones. Alzheimers. None of these will deter explorers in their quest to establish a foothold on Mars, says Apollo 11 hero Buzz Aldrin.

The countdown has begun in earnest for a Kiwi dad who wants to boldly go where no man has gone before - Mars.

On Monday the largest supermoon in almost 70 years will light up the night sky ... but Tuesday night might bring the most spectacular New Zealand moonrise.

Tuesday's supermoon is generating much excitement - and conspiracy theories.