Ray Ryan explores the links between a Canadian astronaut, former US president John F Kennedy, and a boy who grew up to tell tales of Cork City’s northside.

The Power Rangers make their Irish debut today, visiting children at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, before embarking on a free live tour of Smyth’s stores during the Easter holidays.

Test your knowledge of science and nature with our tricky multiple choice quiz. Then find out how bright you are. (Answers are at the bottom — but no peeking!

It’s been a hectic year for Blue Raincoat theatre company.

Despite having to deal with splatter attacks by crows, a facility in Co Cork is at the centre of Irish satellite technology, writes Claire Droney.

Man of the moment, Commander Chris Hadfield, has been presented with his very own Matryoshka, or babushka, doll in Kazakhstan.

Stag parties on Saturn, vacations on Venus — once Neil Armstrong took that one small step back in 1969 the world awaited giant leaps in space tourism. And it’s finally coming.

London Mayor Boris Johnson was left hanging today as he got stuck in mid-air on a zipwire at an Olympic event.

Irish businessman and author Bill Cullen joined Richard Branson yesterday as the Virgin boss announced plans for the Virgin Galactic space tourism programme.

With typical flair, Richard Branson today announced that he and his children will be the first passengers when the Virgin Galactic space tourism programme begins.

The more developing countries can invest while ensuring stability, the faster they can continue to catch up with richer nations in economic terms, writes Kemal Dervis

WORLD Space Week 2011 takes place from October 4 to 10 as an international celebration of how space has contributed to the betterment of the human condition while also educating the public about space.

AS YOU read, Space Shuttle Atlantis stands on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre, its black nose pointed towards the heavens, one last mission beckoning.

THANK you for publishing: “Cosmonaut urges teens to shoot for the stars,” (April 15).

AT last, after decades of rumour and conjecture, the world has verifiable proof that teenage students are left-leaning, communist-inclined spacers.

RUSSIA will test a next-generation spacecraft, build a new cosmodrome and even consider a manned mission to Mars after 2035.

Russia will test a next-generation spacecraft, build a new launch site and even consider a manned mission to Mars, the nation’s space chief promised today.

WHILE property sales here have come crashing to earth, sales of plots on the moon are rocketing, with almost 40,000 Irish people now owning land on our nearest neighbour.

A Russian capsule delivered three new astronauts to the International Space Station, doubling the size of the crew just in time for a pair of major space anniversaries.

A US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome for a two-day journey to the International Space Station.

Russian officials today unveiled a monument to Laika, a dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions.

A SPACECRAFT that made history in 2005 by firing a torpedo probe into a comet is setting off on a 1.6 billion mile journey across the solar system.

Engineers, military officials and former cosmonauts today celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik, which marked the dawn of the Space Age and sparked the race to land a man on the moon.

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.

THE recent US space probe reminds me of Yuri Gagarin’s orbit of the earth for one hour and 29 minutes in April 1961.

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying British-born astronaut Michael Foale and two others blasted off today for the International Space Station from the Russian space programme’s cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

China’s first astronaut in space returned safely to Earth today when his craft touched down as planned after 21 hours in orbit. Beijing’s mission control declared the country’s landmark debut flight “a success”.

The Chinese government confirmed today that it would attempt its first manned space launch next week, saying the mission would begin between Wednesday and Friday “at a proper time.”

A Soyuz TMA-2 rocket with American astronaut Edward Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko aboard blasted off for the International Space Station today, on a mission intended to keep space exploration going despite the Columbia tragedy.

Ivan Pozdayev and his classmates at the International Space School in a Russian military enclave ignite a model rocket made from Coca-Cola bottles and grin as it soar high over the tree tops.

Rescuers today pulled three bodies from a huge hangar in Kazakhstan after the roof collapsed at Russia’s main space launch site.

The fantasy of taking a holiday in outer space becomes a reality on Saturday when a US multi-millionaire blasts off to become the world’s first space tourist.