
The Chart of Space Exploration Missions
Since Sputnik launched into orbit back in 1957, humanity had pushed the boundaries of space exploration missions to expand the knowledge of our solar system and beyond. Since its creation in 1958, NASA has achieved some pretty impressive feats of science. Space probe Voyager 1 has been silently traversing the unknown territories of the universe for 35 years. The beautiful chart below traces the path of each orbiter, lander, rover and flyby that travel outside Earth’s orbit, from the first spacecraft to land on the Moon (Luna 2 in 1959) to the space weather satellite launched by SpaceX named Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). See also the 29 Space Missions Beyond Earth: Where Are They Now? and 50 Years of Space Exploration.