The Week in Space

October 5-11, 2009

A Sacrifice for Science   Launched in May 1989 (see week of 4 May), the Magellan spacecraft arrived at Venus in August 1990. During its four years in orbit, Magellan used radar to see through the clouds that perpetually veil Venus. Ninety-eight percent of the planet was thus mapped, providing global three-dimensional views of unprecedented clarity. In this computer-generated image, lava flows spread across the fractured plains in the foreground for hundreds of miles, from the base of Maat Mons, a five-mile-high equatorial volcano. At mission’s end and low on power, Magellan gathered some final scientific data by intentionally dipping into Venus’s atmosphere. Fifteen years ago this week, contact was lost with the daring spacecraft when Magellan, as expected, burned up in the atmosphere.

Image credit: NASA / JPL

Weekly Calendar

October 5-11, 2009

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 5

Mars 6° south of Pollux
Mercury at greatest elongation (18° W)

1882: Robert Goddard born
1923: Edwin Hubble finds Cepheid variable stars in galaxy M-31
1962: European Southern Observatory founded
1984: STS-41G Challenger launched

Tuesday 6

Wednesday 7

Thursday 8

Mercury 0.3° south of Saturn

1873: Ejnar Hertzsprung born

Friday 9

Saturday 10

Sunday 11

Last Quarter Moon 4:56 am
Mars 1.2° north of Moon

1968: Apollo 7 launched 
1969: Soyuz 6, 7 & 8 in space at once
1994: Magellan mission ends
2000: STS-92 Discovery launched
2005: Shenzhou 6 launched

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