Many of us had hoped that Comet ISON would be conspicuous by now, but its breakup near perihelion on 28 November appears to have been terminal after all. A dispersing cloud of debris was viewed by solar-observing spacecraft for a few days, but I have seen no credible report of any further observation from the ground. Contrary to what some scaremongers claim, any surviving debris will sweep...

China says successfully lands Chang'e-3, a craft carrying a robotic rover, on the surface of the moon on...

China's mission to the moon was driven by the need to demonstrate its powerThe success of China's Chang'e 3 moon mission landing is to be welcomed as a scientific triumph. Placing a package of instruments safely on the lunar surface has been achieved by only two other nations, the US and the former Soviet Union. As an illustration of its flourishing technological expertise, China could not have...

First soft landing since 1976 puts China alongside US and former Soviet Union in accomplishing such a featA Chinese spacecraft has landed on the moon in the first "soft landing" since 1976.The event, broadcast live on Chinese TV, means the country has joined the United States and the former Soviet Union in managing to accomplish such a feat.The Chang'e 3, a probe named after a lunar goddess in...

Iranian state TV claims it has sent a monkey to space in a bid to edge to country further towards a human space...

Researchers and journalists on board the Akademik Shokalskiy brave rough seas as they go about their work – but also find time to eat and relaxLaurence...

One of two cooling loops, which required three spacewalks to install in 2010, shut down Wednesday after it got too...

A Nelson Mandela flower, an ancestral jellyfish and a crocodile attack are among the pick of this week's images from the natural...

Researchers on the Akademic Shokalskiy drop hi-tech equipment over the side to measure the water temperature up to a kilometre down – and discover a curious anomalyAlok...