Space

The Soyuz was considered so safe, tweets about a successful launch had already gone out. At the same time, the two men inside were hurtling towards the ground in the worst Russian manned flight accident since Soviet times.

Theoretical physics has generated many theories over the past century but new research into so-called ‘nuclear pasta’ – highly dense atomic material found in dead stars – shows that science is quickly 'spirali' out of control.

As the first anniversary of the climax of the Cassini mission approaches, the European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed the probe’s parting gift: evidence of a hundreds-of-kilometers tall, hexagonal vortex at Saturn’s north pole.

Less than one year after the Cassini mission’s fiery descent into Saturn’s atmosphere at the end of a highly successful almost 20-year journey, the probe’s ‘final image’ has resurfaced online but, alas, all is not what it seems.

The Earth will experience a number of (relatively) close calls in one day, as NASA reports that an alarming total of five asteroids will hurtle towards – but happily not quite at – our planet.

It took Fyodor Yurchikhin over a decade to pass the medical tests and qualify for a space mission. He was over 40 when he first left Earth. RT looks at the amazing story of his life between domestic bliss and the stars.

An out-of-control Chinese space station is expected to hit Earth in the next 12 hours. However, experts tracking the decaying orbiter admit they still have no idea exactly where the debris will land.

On the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s death, instead of trying to delve into the unknowable minutia of his final flight, an attempt to understand what really made the first man in space tick down here on Earth.

Progress on a new and expansive desert telescope tasked with helping scientists solve the mysteries of the universe has been captured from space.