Magellan
Magellan was NASA's radar-mapping orbiter at Venus and the first planetary spacecraft launched from a Space Shuttle. It used repeated mapping cycles, stereo imaging, altimetry, and radio tracking to characterize the planet's surface and gravity field.
Follow this mission
Alerts are unavailable because this mission is no longer active.
Identity
- Aliases
- Venus Radar MapperSTS-30R payload
- Name
- Magellan
- Slug
- magellan
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- Magellan was NASA's radar-mapping orbiter at Venus and the first planetary spacecraft launched from a Space Shuttle. It used repeated mapping cycles, stereo imaging, altimetry, and radio tracking to characterize the planet's surface and gravity field.
- End Date
- 1994-10-13
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- Magellan mapped 98 percent of Venus at high resolution, revealed widespread volcanic and tectonic landforms, and completed an aerobraking and gravity campaign before entering the atmosphere on October 13, 1994.
- Program
- NASA Solar System Exploration
- Start Date
- 1989-05-04
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/magellan/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 18, 2026 at 13:18:53 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 18, 2026 at 13:18:53 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles