0RELIC FINDER

SPACE HISTORY MUSEUM · INTERACTIVE FEATURE

The RelicsWe Left Behind

From the Moon to the edge of the solar system, NASA has left machines behind. Explore the maps, read their stories, then step inside the museum and photograph the biggest relics.

How it works
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Apollo Lunar ModuleNEAR ShoemakerKeplerVikingOpportunityIngenuityHubbleVoyager 1CassiniPioneer 10Apollo Lunar ModuleNEAR ShoemakerKeplerVikingOpportunityIngenuityHubbleVoyager 1CassiniPioneer 10Apollo Lunar ModuleNEAR ShoemakerKeplerVikingOpportunityIngenuityHubbleVoyager 1CassiniPioneer 10Apollo Lunar ModuleNEAR ShoemakerKeplerVikingOpportunityIngenuityHubbleVoyager 1CassiniPioneer 10
18Missions and machines
59Years, 1967–2026
4Moon · Mars · Asteroids · Deep space

START HERE

What is this place?

Since the 1960s, NASA has sent robots and astronauts to other worlds. Almost none of that hardware came home. Landers stay where they land, and probes keep flying until the power runs out. This site is a museum for those machines: what they were built to do, what they discovered, and where they are now.

01

Why robots first?

Space is far away and dangerous. Robots scout the way, test the ground and show us what to expect before people go.

02

Why leave them?

Bringing hardware home costs far more than it is worth. When the power or fuel is gone, the machine stays.

03

Silent, not useless

Their data still fills textbooks, and a few devices, such as mirrors on the Moon, still work today.

Words you will meet

Lander
Touches down and stays put.
Rover
A robot with wheels that explores.
Descent stage
The bottom half of the Apollo lander, left behind as a launch pad.
Orbiter
Circles a world from above.
Probe
Flies past or through space, like Pioneer.
Sol
One Martian day, about 24 h 40 min.

Every mission leaves something behind.

Some relics are silent monuments. Others kept doing science for years, or still do. As exploration grows, the question is no longer only how we get there, but what we leave and what it costs. Explore it the way the museum curators do: through the picture.

01

Look

Walk the museum hall and find the framed relics.

02

Snap

Frame one in the viewfinder and press C.

03

Project

Place the photo on any wall or the floor. Q rotates it.

04

Step inside

Walk into the photo to enter the relic’s room, then read its timeline and stations.

05

Rewind

Press R to undo a placement or return to the museum.

THE COLLECTION IS WAITING

Keep exploring the museum.

Photograph every relic and step inside each one to complete the collection.

RELICS
Apollo Lunar ModuleNEAR ShoemakerKepler Space TelescopeViking LanderOpportunityIngenuityHubble Space TelescopeVoyager 1Cassini–HuygensPioneer 10
EXPLORE
How it worksEnter the museumBack to top
CREDITS
NASA 3D ResourcesNSSDC catalogue
RELIC FINDER
© 2026 Relic Finder · Not an official NASA or UN product
Sources and credits: mission facts from NASA mission pages, including the NSSDC catalogue (nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov). 3D models, Moon surface and Hipparcos star map from NASA 3D Resources (github.com/nasa/NASA-3D-Resources). Mars horizon derived from a NASA rover panorama. Layout inspired by long-form feature pages. Not an official NASA or UN product.
VIEWFINDER
Drag: look · WASD: walk · C: snap · click: place · Q: rotate · R: rewind

Museum complete

You explored all ten relics. Every one of them is a monument to what exploration leaves behind.