SpaceX has now landed three rocket stages.

The star wanted to join the crew of the US Space Shuttle Columbia and had hoped to join the fateful mission after being given secret training by NASA.

Scientists are travelling back more than 60 million years in history to drill deep under the ocean floor in search of clues about the event that wiped out the dinosaurs, and nearly extinguished life on earth. Source: Smithsonian Channel

Watch: Kiwi rocket tech pioneers show off the test firing of their stage 2 rocket engine.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) see the world at night on every orbit - that's 16 times each crew day.

When you sit around imagining life aboard the ISS one thing you probably don't want to think about is a space junk slamming into your vessel.

A small team of Kiwi scientists expect to keep working with SpaceX as the California-based company makes an ambitious push for Mars.

Where's the best place to watch next year's US eclipse? If you're thinking the grand open spaces of Wyoming, you have plenty of company.

They were once among the fiercest weapons of the Cold War, capable of delivering nuclear warheads to any place on the planet.

Yuri Milner's team plans to develop tiny, unmanned spaceships designed to fly on a research mission.

An Internet investor has enlisted famed physicist Stephen Hawking to help him with a futuristic plan for seeking life in outer space. (April 12)

As commercial space travel becomes more of a reality, there are still some serious health risks to consider before opting to go into orbit.

WATCH: Bigelow Aerospace is set to send its expandable habitat to the International Space Station.

It would take six to eight months' travel by rocket, if the planet is lined up with Earth in the right way.

Wellington photographer says image of stunning 'shooting star' streaking across New Zealand night sky was happy coincidence.

Visitors to an upcoming Mars exhibit at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center will be able to explore several sites on the red planet, reconstructed using real imagery from Nasa's Curiosity Mars Rover.

Scientists have just found space travel is apparently bad for your hair.

Despite a perfect record of successful spaceflights, ULA chief Tory Bruno is under pressure to compete with SpaceX.

Heston Blumenthal has described his nerves as he hosted a dinner party from earth for Major Tim Peake aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

WATCH: Video of yesterday's total solar eclipse proves that a plane provides the best possible vantage point to view the natural phenomenon.

Talk about in-flight entertainment - a number of flights next week will give passengers the best seat in the world to view a solar eclipse.

When astronaut Scott Kelly arrived in Houston on Thursday, he was about two inches taller than when he left for the International Space Station a year before.

American Astronaut Scott Kelly returns from space, having grown two inches during his time in orbit. / AP

WATCH: A new map of the Milky Way star-forming gases has given us an unprecedented look at our galaxy.

"Surprise meteor shower" in New Zealand sparks hunt for unknown ice ball orbiting in space.

Three years after hundreds of webcams captured a 19m-wide space rock exploding over a Russian city.

On Earth, we're used to eclipses that last just seconds: but imagine one that puts you in the dark for three and a half years.

Auckland company Rocket Lab has signed another customer to launch small satellites into space later this year.

As news of the biggest scientific breakthrough in recent times broke today, a retired Bay of Plenty resident sat down and read the headlines with excitement.

After decades of effort scientists have succeeded in detecting gravitational waves from the violent merging of two black holes in deep space.