Russian authorities have revealed plans which could see them send monkeys to Mars.

After putting mon­­­keys into orbit in 1983 the Soviets moved on to human astronauts - but now the apes could be making a return.

While space experts say while the aim is to get humans on Mars, the length of the flight and effects of cosmic rays is said to make it impossible to plan for at the moment.

As a result the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy - which supplied apes for the programme in the 1980s - has revealed plans for a monkey Mars mission.

It is likely to start with a ground-based simulation capsule mission for 520 days… and about 1,500 bananas.

A beer, made from a line of barley seeds which once orbited the Earth aboard the International Space Station, has gone on sale in Japan.

Produced by Sapporobeer Brewery, the 'Space Beer' used the fourth generation of seeds that were on the Russian laboratory of the ISS for five months.

But makers say the beers - of which only 1,500 have been produced - taste just the same as normal terrestrial brews. The only thing astronomical about them is the £13 per bottle price tag.

The barley seeds were taken onboard the ISS as part of a project to investigate the feasibility of growing edible plants in space.

Boffins say there are no differences between earth or space barley… bringing astronauts dreams of space station home-brew one step closer.

A Scottish park has become the UK's first Dark Sky Park -- meaning it is one of the best places in the world for stargazing.

Galloway Forest Park has been given the award because the sky is pitch black and is not 'spoiled' by near-by lights.

This gives star-gazers a clear view of distant galaxies. It rated 23/24 for dark skies - a normal city would rank at just 13/24.

A spokesperson for the park said the award could see the current number of 850,000  tourists visiting the park each year double.

He added that he hoped they would remember to switch their lights off at night.

A competition has just launched in the Mojave Desert for teams planning to build an elevator to space… yes you read that correctly.

For the next couple of days Space Elevator Games will see robotic machines climbing a 1km high cable (held by a helicopter) and will be powered by laser beams.

The idea is that if this can be achieved, the technology could develop into a fully fledged Space Elevator like that in Arthur C. Clarke's "The Fountains of Paradise."

If a space elevator could one day be attached to a mass in geosynchronous orbit, it would offer much cheaper space travel than rockets… and give Starbucks somewhere else to open a branch.

Experts at NASA claim the universe is not black as you might expect - but rather a rather dull shade of beige.

Space boffins have found that if you were to average out the light emitted by galaxies currently analysed, you would be left with the dull-looking colour.

NASA say the shade is constantly changing and has become much less blue over the past 10 billion years (so not a quick change then) indicating that redder stars are becoming more prevalent.

It has now been dubbed "Cosmic Latte" after being discovered by astro-physicians Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldr.

You will notice it bares a striking resemblance to the shade of paint used in TV home makeover shows... suggesting that Sarah Beeny could be our supreme creator.

A company which plans to launch the world's first space hotel, say they will be ready to open their doors air-locks in 2012.

Galactic Suite say plans for their multi-billion dollar project are coming together and they've already taken 43 bookings for out of this world holidays.

Tourists - who will be required to fork out an astronomical £2,650,000 - will get to spend four days on the space station 450 kilometers from the Earth.

They will see the sun rise 15 times a day and loop around the world every 80 minutes… they will also get to take the first holiday photographs that people won't mind sitting through.

Virgin Galactic have released the final design of their ship which will take high-paying passengers into space.

Starting in 2010 the ship will take eight people (two pilot astronauts and six ticketed passengers) on two-and-a-half hour sub-orbital trips.

Despite each seat costing £100,000 Virgin Galactic say 200 people have already booked with another 85,000 having registered interest.