50 years of space exploration, illustrated in one graphic

If you're a fan of infographics, you'll love this new map that illustrates the last 50 years of space exploration in a single graphic.

National Geographic has drawn out the route of every space mission carried out during the last 50 years on top of a map of our solar system. It's pretty neat.

Lines represent different space missions, highlighting milestones in the history of space exploration.

(The map doesn't include the recent LCROSS mission in which NASA deliberately crashed spacecraft into the moon in search of signs of water.)

See the whole zoomable map at NatGeo.

(Infographic: Sean McNoughton, National Geographic; Samuel Velasco, 5W Infographics)

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com