Just for fun: 50 years of space exploration

This stunning graphic depicting all the craft and satellites sent into space over the past 50 years was created by Sean McNaughton and Samuel Velasco, of National Geographic and 5W Infographics, respectively.

The images are from NASA/JPL.

To zoom around and explore, go to the National Geographic site here.

The easiest way to use it is to orient yourself first on the small insert in the top right corner, then once you have the size and position you want, use your mouse to move around the larger picture.

On the very bottom is a linear size scale. Look how far out the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft are!