The Week in SpaceOctober 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. Weekly CalendarOctober 5-11, 2009Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
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