Track the location of the Voyager probes, currently between 13 and 15 billion miles away from Earth.

Voyager 1 and 2 are the only spacecraft to reach and study interstellar space

The Voyager Interstellar Mission extended beyond the original planetary flybys to explore the solar system's edge and beyond. Voyager 1 and 2 crossed the heliosheath—the boundary between the solar wind and the interstellar medium—in 2012 and 2018, respectively.

Intended to last four years, the Voyager spacecraft have lasted nearly five decades

Launched in 1977, the Voyager probes still send data from billions of miles away, guided by engineers who’ve turned down promotions to stay with the mission. The team continues to support the probes as they move 37,000 mph through space.

View a media gallery from the assembly of Voyager 1 and 2

This archive includes the many steps it took to put together each Voyager probe. Photos focus on individual parts, like the 8-track tape deck, the large dish-shaped antenna, and its long arm magnetometer boom.

Voyager spacecraft defied expectations and only powered down after 47 years in space

Originally built for a four-year mission, Voyagers 1 and 2 used a rare planetary alignment and gravity assists to reach interstellar space. With limited power and aging systems, they will continue to send data until the mid-2030s. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Explore a timeline of NASA's exploration of Mars

NASA has studied Mars extensively over 60 years using telescopes, orbiters, and rovers. From April 2021 to January 24, the Ingenuity helicopter completed its technology demonstration objective by flying more than 17 kilometers above the Martian surface.

See a timeline of the space race

This interactive timeline chronicles the space race from its Cold War origins to the moon landing, highlighting key figures, pivotal moments, and rapid technological advancements. It combines archival photos, video, and links to related material.

A return to Uranus

There's been only one mission to Uranus before—Voyager 2 passed by the ice giant in 1986 before heading off into interstellar space. NASA's recent planned itinerary for space missions lists Uranus as the highest priority over the next decade. The seventh planet is 20 times as far from the sun as Earth, and researchers say its study will shed light on how the outer half of the Solar System formed.

Voyager science teams still collect valuable space data using four active tools

These instruments track magnetic fields, solar wind particles, radio emissions from the heliopause, and hydrogen levels in the outer heliosphere. Even though each Voyager sends data at just 160 bits per second, NASA receives 6–8 hours of tracking data daily.

NASA fixed Voyager 1’s glitchy memory from 24 billion kilometers away

In November 2023, Voyager 1 began sending unusable data due to a stuck bit in a decades-old memory chip. After months of investigation, engineers managed to reroute the faulty code to a new memory location, restoring functionality in April 2024.

Voyager mission's Golden Record captures Earth’s essence for alien discovery

Housed aboard Voyager 1 and 2, each record serves as a time capsule of human culture and a peaceful introduction to any intelligent life. Even if never played, the records can outlast humanity and travel through space for a billion years.

Planetary exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life kicked off with Viking

NASA's Viking 1 and 2 missions revealed Mars' geological activity and potential for past life through their evidence of past surface water. Viking 1 held the record for the longest Mars surface operation until the Opportunity rover surpassed it in 2010.

Viking established entry, descent, and landing methods for future planetary visits

The most significant engineering challenge was slowing the Viking lander, which would move through space at nearly 29,000 kilometers per hour before reaching Mars. This required the invention of supersonic parachute technology, which is still used today.

View 60 years of NASA space exploration

Established in 1958—a year after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has taken humanity into outer space and helped reveal the nature of the universe. Historic moments include the Apollo 11 mission putting humanity on the Moon and construction of the International Space Station.

View galleries of images taken by the Voyager spacecraft during planetary flybys

The images and videos include close-ups of Uranus, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Saturn's ring system, and Neptune's Great Dark Spot. The Pale Blue Dot color image of Earth is included as part of the solar system's family portrait.

A global list of every space exploration mission

Learn how and why we explore our solar system and beyond with space exploration missions, and find out how you can get involved.

Congress settled for the Viking program after canceling the Voyager Mars program

NASA's proposed Voyager missions to Mars and Venus in the 1970s were canceled due to budget cuts and the Apollo 1 fire. The Viking program's smaller scope—focused on data collection—was the economically viable alternative to manned Mars mission proposals.

View an interactive collection of historical documents from the Viking project

This collection includes original mission bulletins, engineering and planning documents, and interview segments from more than 80 Viking team members who made the historic exploration of Mars’ surface by a lander possible.

Voyager carries Earth's hopeful greeting into deep space as a message of peace

Along with scientific instruments, each Voyager carried a golden record containing multilingual greetings—ranging from Sumerian and Akkadian to Thai and Cantonese—music, and sounds of Earth intended for any intelligent life that might find it.

A data visualization exploring six decades of spacewalks

Astronauts' initial small step for mankind may standout, but how many steps have we taken so far? Space and moonwalks further our understanding of spaceflight, celestial bodies, and space itself. Created to resemble a constellation map, this chart...

Explore a timeline of every mission to Mars through 2020

The US has conducted the most missions (23) and has the highest success rate (74%), followed by Russia (18 missions at 5%). The first successful orbiter was Mariner 4, while Viking 1 was the first successful lander.

Voyager Station, the world's first space hotel, is planned for 2027

The structure spans 488 meters in diameter and will rotate to simulate one-sixth of Earth's gravity while circumnavigating the planet every 90 minutes. The Voyager Station is designed to accommodate 450 guests and 150 crew members, providing amenities such as restaurants, a sports hall, and a movie theater.

An interactive timeline of history, from beginning to middle

The history of humanity is a long, winding road, and the history of everything else is even more complex and interwoven. This interactive timeline takes users through the history of the world and includes links to related videos, blurbs, and events. Each event in history is represented by a dot, providing users with a glittering horizon filled with moments of intrigue and impact.

Explore how far you've traveled through space while living on Earth

Using the "Cosmic Odometer," users can enter their birthday and learn how far they have moved through space due to the combined effects of Earth's rotation around its axis, the planet's orbit around the sun, the solar system's trajectory through the Milky Way, and the galaxy's motion through the universe.

See a timeline of James Webb Space Telescope discoveries

Since its launch on Christmas Day 2021, NASA's $10B James Webb Space Telescope has captivated the world with its rapid revelations of ancient galaxies, star-formation hotbeds, and more. This regularly updated timeline of Webb's discoveries keeps you up to date with the latest developments.

Play an interactive game to explore and learn about Hubble images

Aboard the fictional USS Hubble, users can choose their own adventure to investigate the solar system, our galaxy, and the universe beyond. Each option directs users to a real image accompanied by relevant information and additional media elements, such as a time-lapse of the moon Phobos orbiting Mars.

View the first photos ever taken from the Martian surface, courtesy of NASA's Viking Project.

Explore an interactive visualization of the solar system

This tool allows you to view the orbits of planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, and other significant objects in the solar system. Clicking on an object reveals key facts and historical data.

Voyager 1 captured Earth as a 'Pale Blue Dot' from 6 billion kilometers away

On Feb. 14, 1990, NASA's Voyager 1 space probe took the farthest photo of Earth ever captured. Earth appears so small in the image that it takes up less than a single pixel out of 640,000 in the photo's frame.

Experience 14 billion years of important moments in world history with this scrollable interactive timeline.

Take a 360-degree tour of Discovery with Kathryn Sullivan and Charles Bolden, who flew together on the space shuttle during its deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope. (VR device-compatible)

A map of every object in our solar system

The infographic from 2020 illustrates the complexity of our solar system, mapping over 18,000 objects including asteroids, comets, planets, and moons. Created by biologist Eleanor Lutz using data from NASA, it shows the non-linear distribution of objects due to the sun's gravitational pull. Objects nearer to the sun are more numerous, forming tighter orbits, while those farther out are fewer and more widely spaced.

Interactive human migration map

Using archeological, genetic, and climate data, scientists have pieced together an outline of the human odyssey—the journey that took our species from Africa to all corners of the globe. Experience this 200,000-year migration using an interactive human migration map.

Explore an interactive timeline of Earth's 4.5-billion-year history to visualize shifting landmasses and oceans, view the locations of significant asteroid impacts, and learn about major geological and biological events.

Explore an interactive diary of the International Space Station

The tool enables users to learn about the daily events that occurred on the ISS since continuous human occupancy began on November 2, 2000. Upon selecting a date in the calendar, users can explore activity logs, relevant news, and multimedia content, including videos, photographs, and audiologs, from the onboard crew.

From the Big Bang to present—a timeline

A timeline for everything, from the Big Bang to the beginnings of life on Earth. This article lays out, in spans of billions of years, what was happening in the universe as it became the universe. Starting from the Planck era, the earliest known meaningful time, to the probable "Big Crunch" 30 billion years from now, see how the universe has existed and persisted.

Travel through deep time with this interactive Earth

Explore key moments in Earth’s transformative history as continents drift and climate fluctuates over 4.6 billion years. The Smithsonian presents a series of interactive snapshots of the earth. From its toddler years during the Hadean period, when its surface was mostly molten, to the mostly unidentifiable landmasses of the future earth, 100 million years from now.

Relive the Apollo 11 moon landing minute by minute

This interactive project lets you experience Apollo 11 in real time—listening to exchanges between the astronauts and NASA's Mission Control as they guided humanity's first journey to the lunar surface and safely home.

The Viking landers were the first spacecraft to conduct experiments on Mars

NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 missions tested soils for signs of life, captured images, and studied the Martian atmosphere, revealing evidence of ancient water flow, volcanic soil, and a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere.