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Space shuttle Endeavor blasted off today on its final mission before being decommissioned and put on display to the public at the California Science Center, USA.

The 16 day mission which will be its 25th flight into Space and the 11th calling at the International Space Station, will deliver $2bn worth of astrophysics equipment to the ISS, designed to search Space for antimatter. 

The final countdown for the launch of the last shuttle will take place in July when Atlantis will fly for the last time, bringing to an end the 30 year NASA shuttle program.

What follows next will be a significant period of time when the US will be unable to put astronauts into Space under its own steam, relying totally on the Russian Soyuz program. The future of American led missions into Space will only restart again once private companies have developed and built rockets to take over the job, with 2015 being estimated as the earliest date for new launches to begin.

Uneasy times ahead for the USA Space program I think!

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Eminent British physicist Stephen Hawking has once more been ruffling a few feathers with his beliefs, or rather, his lack of belief in the hereafter.

In an interview published in The Guardian newspaper in the UK yesterday, the 69 year old physicist who was diagnosed with a form of motor neuron disease at the age of 21, made clear once more his lack of belief in the existence of heaven. In response to a question about his fear of death, Hawking responded:

"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he told the newspaper.

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people who are afraid of the dark."

Fact or fairy tale? Are you afraid of the dark?

To read the full article, click here. 

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