It’s been almost 50 years since Nasa astronaut Neil Armstrong left the dusty imprints of his lunar boots on the surface of the moon.

We could be about to colonise Mars, with the help of robots.

His name is Bruno and together with his two siblings he is helping scientists embark on one of humankind’s greatest adventures — the search for life on Mars.

A European spacecraft programmed to sniff out atmospheric evidence of life on Mars has blasted into space.

A European spacecraft programmed to sniff out atmospheric evidence of life on Mars has blasted into space.

Justin Kurzel’s version of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (15A) opens with an extraordinarily vivid battle scene, as loyal Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) goes to war on behalf of King Duncan (David Thewlis).

Check out our guide to the best of tonight's TV.

Ridley Scott directed and Matt Damon starring The Martian is coming much sooner than expected, now launching in October

A British spacecraft which disappeared as it approached Mars in search of alien life successfully landed on the Red Planet’s surface, scientists behind the £50m (€65m) project said.

A British spacecraft which disappeared as it approached Mars in search of alien life has been spotted on the Red Planet’s surface, the head of the UK Space Agency has confirmed.

A US man who accidentally sold his girlfriend’s cat when it was hiding inside a bed he was selling has had the pet returned after 10 days.

Read on for our spolier-free guide to today's TV

India has announced two more successes in its quest to send humans into space, launching the country’s largest rocket and testing the re-entry of a crew module.

Nasa’s Maven spacecraft has arrived at Mars after a 442m-mile journey that began nearly a year ago.

IN 1971, David Bowie sang: ‘Is there life on Mars?’ There might be soon, and Irishman Joseph Roche could be one of 20 people to be sent in 2025 to the Red Planet to live, and die, in a space settlement.

More than 1,000 candidates from 200,000 hopefuls have been chosen to train for a private Mars colonisation mission to be partly funded by a reality-TV show following their training and subsequent steps, organisers have said.

India’s Mars orbiter mission ventured out of Earth’s sphere of influence early today in an attempt to reach the red planet’s orbit.

India has launched its first spacecraft bound for Mars, a complex mission which it hopes will demonstrate and advance technologies for space travel.

Water, water everywhere — thought not quite fit to drink.

Scientists believe they have found the first evidence of life arriving to Earth from space, which could “completely change our view of biology and evolution”.

Life on Earth may have started on Mars, growing evidence suggests.

Are you crazy enough to sign up for a one-way trip to Mars? Applications are now being accepted by the makers of a Dutch reality show that says it will deliver the first humans to the Red Planet in 10 years.

A married couple could be sent to Mars in as little as five years' time as part of a private mission backed by the world's first space tourist.

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.

The Mars rover Curiosity was due to wrap up an exhaustive instrument check last night, clearing the way for its first lengthy drive later today to determine whether the Red Planet has ever been hospitable to life.

Nasa's Mars rover has taken another small step for robot-kind.

Nasa’s Curiosity Rover has transmitted its first colour photo and a low-resolution video showing the last two-and-a-half minutes of its white-knuckle dive through the Martian atmosphere, giving us earthlings a sneak peek of a spacecraft landing on another world.

Nasa’s Curiosity rover has transmitted a low-resolution video showing the last 150 seconds of its dive through the Mars atmosphere, giving Earthlings a sneak peek of a spacecraft landing on another world.

Are we alone?

Nasa said all was well ahead of its nail-biting mission to Mars, with its most advanced robotic rover poised to hunt for clues about past life and water on Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour.

A one-ton rover as big as a Mini is due to land on Mars on Monday in one of the most daring space missions ever attempted.

AS Russia’s space agency struggled to fix a probe bound for a moon of Mars that instead got stuck in Earth’s orbit, some experts said the chances of saving the $170 million craft looked slim.

PALE but smiling, a crew of researchers yesterday walked out of a set of windowless modules after a 520-day simulation of a flight to Mars.

NASA has revealed plans for a new rocket to spearhead its space programme.

Nasa has revealed plans for a new giant rocket to spearhead its space programme.

The Mars rover Opportunity is snapping pictures like a tourist since arriving at its latest crater on the Red Planet, much to the delight of scientists many millions of miles away.

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.

The crew of a mock trip to Mars ventured out after 257 days in a locked steel capsule today to trudge into a sand-covered room and plant flags on a planet.

After 257 days in a locked steel capsule, an international crew on a mock trip to Mars is preparing to simulate landing on the Red Planet.

A MANNED mission to Mars may be decades away, but an international team of researchers yesterday began to try to experience what one might be like by locking themselves up in a windowless capsule for a year-and-half – the time needed for a round-trip to the red planet.

IF there is life on Mars and “it” decides to visit our humble planet, well, chances are Island Roy in Donegal will be the first alien landfall.