The universe of No Man Sky is nothing but uncharted.
I think every planet (and moon!) I visited had some shelter or factory, hinting an alien species already visited the place, this when you don't find aliens hanging inside buildings or flying around.
Imagine you going to Europe, stepping on London and naming the place Rainalot, that's basically what you do there.
More curious, your character has no previous knowledge of the alien languages, even thou there is a whole galactic trade network with universal (literally) currency and standardized ships. Note not knowing the language doesn't prevent you from buying and selling ship, proving money is truly the universal language.
Ah, for those curious, I played several hours of No Man Sky and it was interesting, but the novelty fades eventually and what you are left with is some barebones gameplay and repetitive planets.
The planets, while visually different, PLAY the same… you find yourself doing the same thing with a different background.
The tech is impressive, and it was fun while it lasted, but there is too much grind and too little inventory space for me to bother.