About
Traces of our journeys
Prepared using AI. Data, labels and reconstructed routes may contain inaccuracies. Check important details against the sources in each mission card.
Solar System exploration on one map, from the first attempts to leave Earth orbit to modern and planned missions.
An independent interactive reconstruction inspired by Pop Chart.
Reading the map
Lines show the sequence of encounters and transfers. Closed loops near planets represent orbital phases; short lines to the surface represent landings. The geometry was reconstructed from details of the 2026 Pop Chart poster. Distances and curves are schematic, not calculated trajectories. Failed launches end near Earth. Separate arcs represent repeated flybys and orbital phases. Solid lines represent stages up to 21 October 2026; dashed lines represent future stages in the source snapshot. Open loops denote flybys and closed loops denote orbital phases. These are schematic poster symbols, not reconstructed physical trajectories.
In overview, all routes remain visible while dots move along them on a shared time scale measured from launch. The button beside the year starts calendar history; moving the slider also enters history. In history, lines appear according to event dates. Aligned starts mode places launches at zero and reveals routes progressively. By default, one second represents half a year. Dots move continuously along schematic curves between event dates, with smooth changes in speed at joins. At the end of history, the map returns to the full overview with moving dots. Overview loops. Selecting an object, filtering and resetting preserve playback. Motion temporarily freezes while scrolling. After zooming, it resumes 3 seconds after the last gesture. Pause stops it until you press Play again. This illustrates mission progress, not physical velocity or orbital periods. When only a year or month is known, its beginning is used. Events on the same day without a time are provisionally ordered within that day. Undated stages are not assigned invented dates. Card status refers to the database snapshot. Future schedules are provisional.
During a demonstration, a short signal marks only a mission launch. Simultaneous launches share one signal. The speaker button beside Play mutes sound.
Database dates
Data and images
Data: Space Exploration History, Olaf Frohn, version 1.6.41, October 2026.
This is an independent reconstruction, not an official Pop Chart product. The artwork and interface were rebuilt. Mission cards link to checked space agency, operator and Wikipedia pages. Links were checked on 21 October 2026. Programme or list links for rare spacecraft are explicitly labelled. Licences and the correction log are available here and in the atlas bundle.
Rotating planets
The eight planets use textures from one collection: Solar System Scope, CC BY 4.0. The collection uses enhanced colours and some details reconstructed by its author.
Resized to 1024 × 512 and converted to WebP: 310,990 bytes for eight textures. A single shared WebGL layer; static images remain as a fallback. The illustrative rotation period is 60 seconds, not a simulation of actual rotation rates. Pause controls both mission dots and planet rotation.
Controls
The wheel over the map and a trackpad pinch zoom around the cursor. At 100%, scrolling the wheel down scrolls the page. In the margins beside the map, the wheel also scrolls the page. Drag the map with a mouse or fingers; two fingers can pan and zoom together. A horizontal trackpad gesture pans the zoomed map. Press / to search or Esc to close a card; arrow keys pan and +/− zoom.
