Rain and overcast skies prevented space shuttle Discovery from returning to Earth today, and Mission Control instructed the astronauts to spend a 15th day circling the world to await better weather.

The space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts returned safely to Earth today, ending a mission that resulted in the virtual completion of the International Space Station.

The shuttle Endeavour left the International Space Station and headed home today, leaving behind a nearly-complete outpost with the best ever windows on the world.

IN a highly anticipated grand finale to their mission, astronauts opened the shutters on the International Space Station’s new observation deck yesterday and were humbled by “absolutely spectacular” views of Earth from inside the elaborate atrium of windows.

Astronauts ran into trouble trying to move the International Space Station’s fancy new observation deck, and the job was put on hold as Mission Control debated what to do.

Astronauts from Canada and Belgium and a Russian cosmonaut have landed safely in Kazakhstan after a six-month stint on the International Space Station, Russian Mission Control said today.

Space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station for a weeklong stay, and the astronauts quickly unloaded a huge platform full of spare parts needed to keep the outpost running for another decade.

The astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle and station closed the hatches between the linked spacecraft as Discovery got ready for its departure for Earth today.

The bathroom lines at the already crowded space shuttle and space station complex got a lot longer because of a flooded toilet.

Spacewalkers’ hi-tech tools proved ineffective when it came to dislodging a bolt interfering with repairs at the Hubble Telescope.

FOR the second straight day, astronauts stepped out on a space walk yesterday to bring a scientific instrument back from the dead on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth safely, taking a detour to sunny California after storms hit the main Florida landing strip.

Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven have left the international space station, ending a 12-day visit to give the orbiting complex better living quarters for bigger crews.

Astronauts are tinkering with a troublesome piece of equipment designed to help convert urine and sweat into drinkable water, which is vital to allowing the international space station crew to double to six.

NASA controllers are revamping plans for the remaining spacewalks set to take place during space shuttle Endeavour’s visit to the international space station, after a crucial tool bag floated out to space during a repair trip.

Space shuttle Endeavour’s astronauts unfurled a 100ft laser-tipped pole and surveyed their ship for any launch damage while drawing ever closer to their destination, the international space station.

Space shuttle Atlantis and its astronauts delivered a sparkling new lab to the international space station, but had to delay installing it by a day because of a crew member’s medical problem.

AFTER a week-and-a-half of intense and unprecedented work, astronauts aboard the shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station yesterday to begin their two-day journey home.

Astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery and the international space station joined forces, linking their ships and kicking off the biggest construction job ever attempted by a single team in orbit.

Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts took a detour across the US and landed safely in California, ending a two-week mission of construction on the international space station.

Hours after undocking from the international space station, Atlantis’ seven astronauts finished a final inspection of the space shuttle to make sure its heat shield was ready to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.

Two astronauts floated outside the international space station today on the first space walk of the year.

A US software billionaire who won a junior cosmonaut contest as a child in Communist-ruled Hungary returned from a dream voyage to the international space station today, riding a Russian capsule to a soft landing on the Kazakh steppe along with a Russian and an American who spent seven months in orbit.

NASA scrubbed space shuttle Discovery’s first landing plan tonight because of rain at Kennedy Space Center and was considering ordering a New Mexico landing - something it has done only once before.

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery woke up to their first day in space today, where the first order of business will be to make sure their ship was not damaged during launch.

How’s this for a handicap: A Russian cosmonaut will strike a lightweight golf ball from outside the international space station in a promotional stunt – but he will swing one-handed and with one foot wedged in between the hand rails of a ladder.

ANOUSHEH Ansari, the world’s first female paying space tourist, returned to Earth yesterday after 11 days in space capped by the bone-jarring journey home from the international space station.

SPACE shuttle Discovery and its crew of six returned to Earth through overcast skies yesterday, ending a successful US mission that put Nasa back in the space station construction business.

Discovery’s crew used highly sensitive cameras attached to a 15-metre boom today to carefully examine the space shuttle for any signs of damage from the previous day’s launch.

Brazil’s first man in space landed back on Earth in the freezing Kazakh steppe today after a nine-day visit to the international space station.

US millionaire scientist Gregory Olsen and a two-man Russian-American crew returned from the international space station to Earth early today in a lightning-swift, bone-jarring descent.

DISCOVERY and its crew of seven glided safely back to Earth yesterday, ending a riveting, at times agonising, 14-day test of space shuttle safety that was shadowed by the ghosts of Columbia.

Nasa cancelled plans to land space shuttle Discovery in Florida today because of stormy weather and changed the landing site to California.

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery were ready to put on the brakes today and begin descending from orbit when flight controllers ordered them to continue circling the planet while awaiting better weather.

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery were ready to put on the brakes today and begin descending from orbit with hopes of having their feet back on the ground before daybreak.

After orbiting the Earth for nearly two weeks, astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery were told to circle the planet for another day as bad weather in Florida forced Nasa to delay today’s scheduled landing.

With a gentle tug of his gloved right hand, Discovery astronaut Stephen Robinson removed two pieces of filler material from the shuttle’s underside in an unprecedented space repair job that drew a big sigh of relief from NASA.

Discovery’s astronauts are preparing for a high-stakes task that’s never before been attempted: sending a spacewalker beneath the craft to repair filler sticking out from ship’s thermal tile belly.

Space shuttle Discovery escaped damage from the potentially deadly chunk of foam that broke off from the fuel tank during lift-off, but may have been struck in the wing by a much smaller piece, Nasa says.

A Russian space capsule carrying an Italian, a Russian and an American hurtled safely home to Earth from the International Space Station today, landing softly on the marshy Central Asian steppes in the early-morning darkness.

Space shuttle Discovery completed a 10 1/2-hour trip to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral today after a brief delay caused by the discovery of a crack in the external fuel tank’s foam insulation.

With 21,461 miles on the clock, adventurer Steve Fossett is inching ever closer to his target of becoming the first person to fly solo non stop around the world.

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft that will return to Earth from the International Space Station this week is leaking helium, Russian space officials said today.

A Russian spacecraft carrying a new crew docked smoothly with the international space station today, as US and Russian space officials on the ground argued over the conditions for future missions.