Eras of Spaceflight

The opening of the space age, from the launch of Sputnik 1 to the first probes toward the Moon — the moment humanity's machines first left the Earth.

The Cold-War contest between the Soviet Union and the United States that carried the first humans into orbit and on to the Moon, culminating in the Apollo landings and the détente of Apollo–Soyuz.

The decades in which robotic probes first reached every planet — Mariner, Pioneer, Viking, and the two Voyagers that toured the outer Solar System and reached its edge.

Thirty years of the reusable Space Shuttle — building space stations, launching and repairing great observatories, and marked by the losses of Challenger and Columbia.

The era of continuous human presence in orbit aboard the International Space Station — the largest structure ever built in space and a laboratory for living and working off Earth.

The modern era of spaceflight — reusable and commercial rockets carrying cargo and crew to orbit, alongside a new generation of robotic explorers reaching Mars, the comets, Pluto, and interstellar space.

The return to the Moon — NASA's Artemis program and its international and commercial partners working to land the next humans on the lunar surface and build a sustained presence.