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.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Venus Radar MapperSTS-30R payload
- Name
- 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.
- Destination
- Elliptical Venus orbit at approximately 297 × 8,463 km altitude and 85.5° inclination for radar mapping of Venus, followed by aerobraking and a controlled atmospheric entry after completing 98% surface coverage
- 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.
- Programs
- 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
- August 22, 2026 at 15:18:01 UTC
- Image
- Download
Other
- Affiliations
- Search Name
- Magellan Venus Radar Mapper STS-30R payload
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles