A GROUP of volunteers isolated from the outside world for eight months stepped out on a mock-up of Mars yesterday, reaching the half-way point of their experimental “voyage” to the Red Planet.

ASTRONAUTS from the US space shuttle Discovery concluded the third and final space walk of their mission yesterday, installing new equipment on the International Space Station, but failing to connect some of the cables.

Astronaut Robert Curbeam is poised to set a new record next week when he is scheduled to embark on his fourth spacewalk of the space shuttle Discovery mission, this one to work on a stalled solar panel.

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.