Seattle's an economic engine, a leader in sustainability and a hub for culture and creativity, writes Dr Ann Bartos and John Mauro. It could easily be Auckland.

Another giant space rock is set to sail by the Earth just a few months after our last close encounter - but an expert says asteroid armageddon isn't something we need to worry about any time soon.

Space enthusiast Mark Rocket has been waiting six years for seat on one of the world's first commercial space flights - but says it will be worth the wait.

A Russian capsule carrying mice, lizards and other small animals has returned to Earth after spending a month in space for what scientists said was the longest experiment of its kind.

The Sun has unleashed three potent solar flares in just under 24 hours, marking the most intense activity yet this year and causing limited interruptions to high-frequency radio communications.

A Canterbury astrophysicist will fly to Europe next week to be presented with the Einstein Medal from the Albert Einstein Society.

Narongsak Nagadhana toured New Zealand and captured these beautiful time-lapse videos from the South Island, Mount Cook Valley - The Church of Good Shepherd in Tekapo - and a Queenstown sunset. courtesy vimeo.com/user17638692

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man international crew has landed safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, NASA's Thomas Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko are returning to Earth after five months aboard the International Space Station.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and Nasa’s Thomas Marshburn have become well known for their amazing photos of planet earth, regularly tweeted out to their thousands of fans. Here are 10 of the best.

Chris Hadfield flies back to Earth today having signed off after five months as commander of the International Space Station by performing David Bowie's Space Oddity in zero gravity.

The culture in NZ is, no doubt, a leading element of what has been achieved by Team NZ in bringing this catamaran campaign to its impending pinnacle, Keith Turner.

Eva the mascot cow is on her way back to Tauranga after being lifted more than 36,500m to the edge of space and crash landing in Nevada's Death Valley.

Early in its life the moon was much closer to Earth and the tides were a lot bigger and more frequent.

Technically, Pink Floyd had it wrong. The space-facing side of the moon isn't dark. Not that you'd know that, given we always see the same side of our nearest neighbour.

Scientists studying a collection of 35 meteorites that landed in Morocco in 2012 say that a strange green rock among the group is likely from Mercury.

Veti-Gel is a liquid that can not only immediately stop bleeding but also initiate healing.

When the Apollo 11 mission blasted off carrying the folks who would be the first to walk on the Moon it was powered by 5 F-1 engines. Those engines burned for a few minutes, and then fell into the Atlantic Ocean, as they'd done their job.

The carbon fibre Solar Impulse plane has the wingspan of a 747 but only weighs as much a Honda Prius.