The 10 astronauts aboard the linked space shuttle and space station wrapped up their joint work and got ready to say goodbye.

The shuttle Atlantis blasted off today with Europe’s gift to the international space station, a $2bn (€1.6bn) science lab named Columbus that spent years waiting to set sail.

WHAT do you do when it’s your birthday and you are miles from nowhere with neither home nor hostelry in sight? Throw a party, of course, with the help of friends, family — and NASA.

A NASA astronaut will today unveil what life is like on board the International Space Station with a group of Cork schoolchildren.

BIRTHDAY wishes will be beamed into space today to an astronaut mourning the death of his mother while he was on his mission.

A live link between an astronaut on board the International Space Station and his Irish in-laws will be televised tomorrow.

Two astronauts went out on a spacewalk today to wire up the International Space Station’s newest room and keep the next shuttle visit on track.

AN ASTRONAUT with strong family ties to Cork sent best wishes from space yesterday to mark the official opening of the country’s newest and most advanced observatory and space education centre.

A SERIES of successes by recent mothers has prompted questions whether childbirth, far from spelling the end of a sporting career, can actually boost an athlete’s performance.

Nasa has asked its shuttle astronauts to take a closer look at the gears that control the international space station’s solar wings to try to locate a problem in the mechanics of the system.

SPACEWALKING astronauts unhooked a 35,000-pound girder from the international space station yesterday, starting the process of moving the solar power tower to another part of the orbiting outpost.

Astronauts aboard the international space station readied for a second space walk today, preparing to work on the outside of the new Harmony addition and inspect a couple of areas of concern on the orbiting outpost.

Their first wave of construction work successfully completed, the 10 astronauts aboard the shuttle Discovery and the international space station eagerly awaited their entrance today into the latest addition to the orbiting complex.

AN IRISH family which runs one of the country’s biggest optician firms watched in awe yesterday as the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a loved one on board.