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Rewind #3 · Tuesday, October 27, 2026

A space station, research aircraft and Earth behind the Moon

The Tuesday, October 27, 2026 puzzle: five photos from history. Guess the year each was taken, on a timeline from 1940 to 2026.

  1. Three experimental rocket-powered research aircraft with swept and straight wings on a flat dry lakebed
  2. Two cylindrical space station modules joined end to end, with a thin solar panel, float against black space.
  3. Docking port of a space station module seen from a shuttle flight deck window, with solar panels and Earth beyond
  4. A space shuttle lifts off from its pad on a pillar of fire, surrounded by billowing white clouds under a blue sky.
  5. A blue and white Earth sets behind the grey cratered horizon of the Moon against black space.

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  1. X-1E, D-558-II and X-1B research aircraft on the lakebed at Edwards1955

    Rogers Dry Lake, a flat natural runway many miles wide, let rocket planes land with little room for error.

    Photo: NASA · Public domain Source

  2. The first two ISS modules, Unity and Zarya, joined in orbit by the STS-88 crew1998

    The Russian-built Zarya and American-built Unity were launched separately and joined in orbit, starting the ISS.

    Photo: NASA · Public domain Source

  3. The first shuttle docking with Russia's Mir space station.1995

    This handshake in orbit was the first of nine shuttle-Mir dockings, a rehearsal for building the International Space Station.

    Photo: NASA · Public domain Source

  4. Discovery lifts off on STS-26, the first shuttle flight after Challenger1988

    The 32-month pause had ended; mission STS-26 carried a tracking satellite and put the shuttle back in orbit.

    Photo: NASA · Public domain Source

  5. Earthset over the Moon, photographed from Orion during the Artemis II lunar flyby.2026

    This view of Earth setting behind the Moon echoes the famous Earthrise picture from Apollo 8.

    Photo: NASA · Public domain Source

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