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Science & Environment
With four commercial companies working on projects to take astronauts to the International Space Station, Nasa is free to focus on journeys further into space, this is where the MPCV or Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle comes in.
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit"
The craft could be involved in missions to visit asteroids by the 2020s and Mars by the 2030s.
It will be able to take four astronauts on missions lasting up to 21 days. The MPCV is based on the uncompleted Orion spacecraft - a key part of the Constellation space programme launched by then US President George W Bush but cancelled by his successor Barack Obama because of its cost.
Space shuttle makes final landing
The Atlantis shuttle lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bringing a close to Nasa's 30-year orbiter programme.
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Drones bounce back from collisions
Researchers in the US copy bird and bat wings to build a drone that can rebound and recover from mid-air collisions.
Tuesday's devastating attacks in Brussels show IS's European network is still at large, despite a year of intensive efforts by security forces to close it down.
Scientists are debating whether it's possible to harness the power of gravity for interstellar space travel.
The four-year-old boy who has become the centre of a controversy between India and Pakistan - and between his father and mother.
Why, almost 60 years after he first appeared in the Daily Mirror, is a layabout lout from north-east England still so loved around the world?