section_path: History of exploration and human presence/Moon Treaty and explorational absence (1976–1990)
section_name: Moon Treaty and explorational absence (1976–1990)
paragraph_text: Moon Treaty and explorational absence (1976–1990)
  
  A near lunar quietude of fourteen years followed the last Soviet mission to the Moon of 1976. Astronautics had shifted its focus towards the exploration of the inner (e.g. Venera program) and outer (e.g. Pioneer 10, 1972) Solar System planets, but also towards Earth orbit, developing and continuously operating, beside communication satellites, Earth observation satellites (e.g. Landsat program, 1972), space telescopes and particularly space stations (e.g. Salyut program, 1971).
  
  The until 1979 negotiated Moon treaty, with its ratification in 1984 by its few signatories was about the only major activity regarding the Moon until 1990.