MoonBound

MoonBound charts every mission to the Moon: 129 missions across nearly seven decades, from the many failed attempts of the early years through the triumph of the Apollo landings, the long dormancy, the modern revival, and the new space race now underway. Each mission's trajectory arcs from Earth to the Moon, and the eras of lunar exploration read across the chart like chapters: the Space Race, the Apollo Era, the Dormancy, the Revival, and the New Space Race.

The upper chart, the Flight Atlas, shows the trajectory of every spacecraft that reached the Moon. Endpoints circle the Moon itself, color-coded by mission type: flybys sweep past, orbiters settle in, landers and rovers touch down, impactors end their flights on the surface.

The lower chart, the Mission Catalog, lists all 129 missions in order: launch date, nation, mission name, type, and outcome, with the landmark missions starred. The catalog runs from Luna 2's first impact to the sample returns and commercial landers of the 2020s to Artemis II. Planned missions through the end of the decade complete the chart. 

Designer Notes

One of the first prints I ever made was Race to the Moon, a chart of the Cold War sprint between the United States and the Soviet Union. I wanted to revisit that story for more than twenty years, and MoonBound is the result: not just the race this time, but every mission, every nation, every outcome.

PAPER & PRINTING

Printed on archival-grade, acid-free matte fine-art paper with a natural surface for crisp detail, accurate color, and lasting display quality.