Magellan:
The Magellan orbiter explored Venus from a near polar, elliptical orbit. The spacecraft made detailed maps of 98 percent of the planet's surface using synthetic aperture radar.

Radar imagery revealed that volcanoes have left their mark on about 85 percent of Venus, with lava plains, lava domes, large shield volcanoes and extremely long lava channels. The rest of the planet's surface is covered with ranges of deformed mountains.

Magellan also made detailed gravity maps of Venus, determining that the gravity field is highly correlated with surface topography.

The spacecraft was destroyed when mission controllers commanded it to plunge into the planet's dense atmosphere on Oct. 11, 1994. The purpose of the descent was to get some final data about Venus' atmosphere before the aging spacecraft ran out of power.

Visit the Magellan Website

4 May 1989:  Launch 10 Aug 1990:  Arrival at Venus 11 Oct 1994:  End of Mission Status:  Mission Successful		4 Mar 2009:  Mars Rover Updates 12 Oct 2004:  Magellan Anniversary 19 Jul 2002:  A Little Light Reading More Headlines
Magellan was the first planetary spacecraft launched from the Space Shuttle. The spacecraft was named after Ferdinand Magellan (right), the sixteenth-century Portuguese explorer whose expedition first circumnavigated the Earth.		Solar System Bodies: Venus Magellan Multimedia Gallery Magellan Fact Sheet (PDF File) National Space Science Data Center, Magellan Mission to Venus Magellan Project Home Page More Links