Space Exploration Time Line

From the dawn of man until very recently, humans have been Earthbound, unable to reach even the clouds—let alone space. It's only within the last hundred years or so that the advent of manned flight and rocket ships has made the heavens attainable. In that time, we've sent people to the moon, rovers to Mars, and space probes deep into the reaches of our solar system. And advanced telescopes that orbit Earth are bringing even the most remote edges of the universe closer to home. See where space travel started, and where it's going.

More About Space Exploration

  • Photo: Portrait of the Apollo 1 crew in 1967

    Early U.S. Spaceflight

    The U.S. space program has had its share of successes and setbacks. See some unforgettable images from the early days of space exploration as America set its sights toward the sky.

  • Photo: Glowing, sombrero-shaped galaxy

    Hubble Images

    Since it was placed into orbit in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has captured images and information that have transformed our understanding of the universe.

  • Photo: Astronauts upgrading Hubble Space Telescope

    Hubble Space Telescope

    Since 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has given the world a bonanza of breathtaking images of the universe. See what it takes to keep this celebrity telescope running like a top.

  • Photo: Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon

    Moon Exploration

    Over a brief three-year period, six U.S. astronaut crews landed on the moon, forging a new branch of space exploration. Follow in their famous footsteps.

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2012 Emerging Explorers

ScienceBlogs Picks

1-Error rendering template=layout/renderable/moduleinstance/rss_feed_reader.html, Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/src/layout/models.py", line 843, in standard_render
    return template.render(new_context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 165, in render
    return self.nodelist.render(context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 784, in render
    bits.append(self.render_node(node, context))
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 797, in render_node
    return node.render(context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/defaulttags.py", line 240, in render
    return self.nodelist_true.render(context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 784, in render
    bits.append(self.render_node(node, context))
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 797, in render_node
    return node.render(context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/defaulttags.py", line 240, in render
    return self.nodelist_true.render(context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 784, in render
    bits.append(self.render_node(node, context))
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 797, in render_node
    return node.render(context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/defaulttags.py", line 154, in render
    nodelist.append(node.render(context))
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 836, in render
    return _render_value_in_context(output, context)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/template/__init__.py", line 816, in _render_value_in_context
    value = force_unicode(value)
File "/nas/ngdm/wpf/parts/project-live/django/utils/encoding.py", line 93, in force_unicode
    raise DjangoUnicodeDecodeError(s, *e.args)
DjangoUnicodeDecodeError: 'utf8' codec can't decode byte 0x8a in position 1: unexpected code byte. You passed in 'f\x8a&' ()

National Geographic Magazine

  • Photo: Sadie Mintz

    Longevity Pictures

    Our genes harbor many secrets to a long and healthy life. And now scientists are beginning to uncover them

  • Photo: Periodic table

    Element Hunters Pictures

    All the elements found in nature—the different kinds of atoms—were found long ago. To bag a new one these days, and push the frontiers of matter, you have to create it first.

  • Photo: Methane bubbles form interesting shapes in the ice near Fairbanks, Alaska.

    Good Gas, Bad Gas

    Burn natural gas and it warms your house. But let it leak, from fracked wells or the melting Arctic, and it warms the whole planet.

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