Space and Astronomy Atlas

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The universe & how we observe it

Every discovery, one connected map of the universe.

Space and Astronomy Atlas is a cross-referenced encyclopedia of the universe, from the solar system and stars to galaxies, cosmology, and the missions and instruments that observe them. Search any theory, object, or scientist and follow its threads through every field that builds on it.

Browse the DirectoryCompare disciplines
284Celestial Objects135Missions and Programs273Spacecraft6,207Entries
16,340Sourced facts

Browse by Field

Every section of the atlas.

Celestial Objects

14
Asteroids and Minor Planets
16 entries
Black Holes and Compact Objects
2 entries
Comets
10 entries
Dwarf Planets
9 entries
Exoplanets
8 entries
Galaxies
58 entries
Interstellar Objects
2 entries
Moons
33 entries
Multiple Star Systems
16 entries
Nebulae
29 entries
Planets and the Sun
9 entries
Star Clusters
67 entries
Stars
21 entries
Trans-Neptunian and Outer Solar System Objects
4 entries

Missions and Programs

8
Crewed Lunar Program Missions
19 entries
Early Crewed Spaceflight Milestone Missions
8 entries
Early Uncrewed Satellite and Reconnaissance Programs
19 entries
Robotic Lunar Exploration Missions
28 entries
Robotic Mars Exploration Missions
21 entries
Robotic Outer Solar System and Small-Body Missions
21 entries
Robotic Venus Exploration Missions
7 entries
Space Station and Space Shuttle Programs
12 entries

Spacecraft

15
Cargo Spacecraft
11 entries
Crewed Spacecraft
54 entries
Launch Vehicle
7 entries
Lunar Lander
24 entries
Lunar Rover
6 entries
Mars Helicopter
1 entry
Mars Lander
8 entries
Mars Orbiter and Lander
5 entries
Mars Rover
7 entries
Robotic Manipulator System
2 entries
Satellite
22 entries
Space Probe
85 entries
Space Shuttle Orbiter
7 entries
Space Station
19 entries
Suborbital Launch Vehicle
15 entries

Space Agencies and Companies

13
Human Spaceflight and Space Station Companies
19 entries
In-Space Servicing and Infrastructure Companies
22 entries
Launch and Space Transportation Companies
56 entries
Legacy Aerospace and Defense Conglomerates
44 entries
Lunar and Deep-Space Exploration Companies
21 entries
Satellite Manufacturing Companies
19 entries
Satellite Services and Operators
22 entries
Space Agencies of Africa
25 entries
Space Agencies of Asia
187 entries
Space Agencies of Europe
230 entries
Space Agencies of Latin America and the Caribbean
23 entries
Space Agencies of Northern America
93 entries
Space Agencies of Oceania
20 entries

Astronauts and Cosmonauts

11
Canada
14 entries
China
29 entries
France
9 entries
Germany
9 entries
International Partner and Guest Astronauts
36 entries
Italy
7 entries
Japan
13 entries
Private Spaceflight Participants
18 entries
Soviet Union and Russia
48 entries
United Kingdom
3 entries
United States
120 entries

Pioneers

4
Computing and Guidance Pioneers
16 entries
Mission Control and Program Leadership
36 entries
Space Science and Rocketry Theorists
58 entries
Spacecraft and Rocket Engineers
86 entries

Observatories and Instruments

3
Ground-Based Optical Observatories
83 entries
Ground-Based Radio and Millimeter Observatories
28 entries
Space-Based Observatories
31 entries

Concepts

4
Astrobiology and the Search for Life
12 entries
Cosmology and the Early Universe
16 entries
Orbital Mechanics and Spaceflight Engineering
32 entries
Planetary Science and Astronomical History
9 entries

Launch Vehicles

13
China
7 entries
Europe
7 entries
France
1 entry
India
4 entries
Israel
1 entry
Japan
4 entries
Other National Programs
2 entries
Russia
3 entries
South Korea
1 entry
Soviet Union
4 entries
United Kingdom
1 entry
United States
16 entries
United States Private Company
9 entries

What you can do here

Explore & connect

Open any entry and follow it outward through everything it touches: the people, the observations, the instruments and the ideas it rests on. See what cites it in return.

Compare disciplines

Set two or more disciplines, theories or missions side by side and see where their evidence, their claims and their limits actually overlap.

Featured today

A cross section of the collection.

Celestial Objects

Ariel

Ariel is the fourth-largest moon of Uranus. Ariel orbits and rotates in Uranus's equatorial plane, which is almost perpendicular to the planet's orbit

Missions and Programs

San Marco programme

The San Marco programme was an Italian and American space effort begun in 1962, when NASA signed an agreement with the Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali at

Spacecraft

Biolab (ISS module)

Biolab is a single-rack science payload built for use inside the Columbus laboratory module of the International Space Station. It supports biological

Space Agencies and Companies

National Space Program Management Office

The National Space Program Management Office, known by its Portuguese initials GGPEN for Gabinete de Gestao do Programa Espacial Nacional, is an Angol

Astronauts and Cosmonauts

Walter Villadei

Walter Villadei is an Italian Air Force officer and astronaut, a graduate of the Academy of the Italian Air Force in Pozzuoli who holds a masters degr

Pioneers

Arkady Ostashev

Arkady Ilyich Ostashev (1925 to 1998) was a Soviet and Russian engineer and scientist who spent more than five decades in the design bureau that grew

Observatories and Instruments

Jodrell Bank Observatory

A British radio astronomy observatory in Cheshire, England, home since 1957 to the Lovell Telescope, a 76-meter fully steerable dish that was the larg

Concepts

Kardashev Scale

The Kardashev scale is a method of classifying a civilization's level of technological advancement according to the total amount of energy it is able

An Open Question

A gap nobody has closed yet, rotated daily.

Military history and archival research

How and when did Yuri Kondratyuk actually die during the Second World War?

See This Question