From the edges of a vast crater on Mars to a distant planet that has to be one great big diamond, it has been a remarkable week in space for the denizens of planet earth.
Space science
A new world dawning as space probe closes in on asteroid
Far away from the euro crisis, Boganville and rogue attacks by volcanic ash clouds, a new world Vesta is coming into focus in the cameras of a tiny, internationally supported US spacecraft called Dawn.
PHOTO GALLERY 
The best astronomy photos of the year
A glorious look at space and astronomy, from the full moon solstice over ancient ruins to a coloured swirl of galaxies far, far away, in this collection of photos from the astronomy photographer of the year awards.
Rocket waves captured on video
Amateur videos captured visible rings of rippling shock waves from a rocket launch in Florida last week, when completely unexpected, the Solar Dynamics Observatory blasted past a ’sundog’ caused by suspended ice particles in the air.
The death star that may kill us
Meet T Pyxidis, a double star, hidden from clear view by a veil of dust in an obscure constellation that rides high in southern hemisphere skies. According to astronomers, it might be planet earth’s executioner.
How the world was saved from orbiting laser battle stations
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union came this close to launching a huge satellite with a giant laser attached to it to take out America’s anti-missile shield. The fascinating and largely untold story of how it all fell to pieces.
NASA discovers water on the moon — or did it?
NASA grabbed headlines around the world with its announcement it has found “a significant amount” of water on the moon. But is 25 gallons of water really all that “significant”? It all sounds like a galactic-sized cash grab to Jon Wiener.
Earth could be 1.8 gigayears behind the rest of the galaxy
And you thought your Playstation 2 was outdated: experts say there could be civilisations on other planets that have existed for 1.8 gigayears, leaving us Earthlings looking positively primitive.
PHOTO GALLERY: Babak Tafreshi’s Astrophotography
Iranian photographer Babak Tafreshi has won the 2009 Lennart Nilsson scientific photography prize for his amazing images of the night sky. Blast off on a trip through his best work.
How Twitter ruined NASA’s big day
NASA was all set to make its big announcement that water has been found on the moon, until some spoil-sports on Twitter let it all spill early. More proof the internet has killed the media embargo?
Measuring global economic growth — from space!
Scientists have developed a way to estimate a region’s GDP growth by tracking satellite images of the area’s night-time lights — more more lights on means citizens have more cash to spend and consumer goods to power.
Rethinking gravity: a dark matter
The Milky Way’s satellite galaxies — or lack thereof — is causing some in the scientific community to completely reassess everything we think we know about gravity.
Space snacks: creating a menu for Mars
Freeze-dried shrimp cocktail and irradiated beef fajitas: modern space food has gotten pretty sophisticated. The LA Times meets the scientists-cum-chefs responsible for packing 6570 meals for NASA’s next trip to Mars.
Let’s invite China to the space party
China has spaceships, scientific know-how, money and man-power. Could bringing them into orbit with the US’s space program build a base for better relations between the two countries?
Guy Rundle: Stuff the Moon, stuff Mars, let’s go to the stars
Mars? We’d barely notice we’d got to Mars. The Moon? A commuter jump. Guy Rundle sets his sights higher.
Fashions on the field: space suits
A collection of photos from the US National Air and Space Museum’s exhibition of Apollo 11 artifacts, featuring some of the wackier space suit fashions of the ’60s.
Buzz Aldrin: satellite of solitude
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin tells the story of Apollo 11 and the “magnificent desolation” of walking on the moon.
Forget about the moon, let’s fix Earth first
“What the hell do we have to show for manned space exploration besides neat pictures and a brief feeling of patriotic goodwill in the middle of Vietnam?” asks Gawker. Space isn’t going anywhere soon — why not fix problems on Earth before we start wrecking other planets.
Boris Johnson: We’re too spineless to walk on Mars
Britain needs to harden the f- up, or we’ll never see man walk on Mars, rambles London Mayor Boris Johnston in an op-ed for the Telegraph. More astronauts in schools!
Listen to the Apollo 11 radiocast
Celebrate 40 years since Neil Armstrong took one small step for man by listening to the Apollo 11 radiocast in real time.
Stephen Hawking: Why is the galaxy not crawling with life forms?
Sci-fi has promised us so much, so where are the aliens? They’re out there, says Stephen Hawkins, but they’re probably not interesting in us — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Future space travel: some serious issues to consider
Will the navy or the airforce be in charge of our future star fleets? John Birmingham explores.
500th astronaut blasts off
Former naval commander Chris Cassidy will become the 500th person to go into space this week.
Is NASA over-the-hill?
It’s been 40 years since man walked on the moon — what have you done for us lately, NASA?
How to fix the Hubble Telescope
Making repairs to a telescope in space is hard. Really, really hard.
