Tributes

Some rockets and spacecraft changed everything, even if they no longer fly or no longer look the way they did. These pages honor them: what they did, the numbers behind them, our explainer videos, and the people who gave their lives flying them.

1. 

   Space Shuttle

   1981–2011
   NASA's winged, reusable spaceship. 135 missions, five orbiters, and fourteen astronauts we remember.
2. 

   R-7 / Soyuz

   1957–today
   The rocket family behind Sputnik, Gagarin and today's Soyuz crews. More than 2,000 launches, and four cosmonauts we remember.
3. 

   Saturn V

   1967–1973
   The rocket that took us to the Moon. 13 launches, 24 people sent to the Moon, and the Apollo 1 crew we remember.
4. 

   Voyager 1 and 2

   1977–today
   Twin probes launched from Cape Canaveral in 1977. Four giant planets, the Pale Blue Dot, and still talking to Earth from interstellar space.
5. 

   Mars rovers

   1997–today
   Five rovers, all launched from Cape Canaveral on Delta II and Atlas V rockets. Two are still driving on Mars.