(-14-) Date: 16 March 1995
Subject: Magellan Views of Venus
FROM: NASA Space News
NEW MAGELLAN GLOBAL VIEWS OF VENUS RELEASED
Newly processed global views of Venus showing its rich and varied
landscape have been released by scientists associated with NASA's
Magellan mission, which concluded last October after mapping more than
98 percent of the planet with imaging radar.
"These images will form the basis for all future scientific studies of
Earth's sister planet, and will provide the necessary maps for all
future Venus missions," said Magellan Project Scientist Dr. R. Stephen
Saunders of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
The images -- mosaics collected from data gathered during Magellan's
orbital mission -- were released at the Lunar and Planetary Science
Conference in Houston, TX, where a number of scientists gave
presentations based on the new imagery database.
The Magellan spacecraft was commanded to plunge into the atmosphere of
Venus last Oct. 12 after performing a final aerodynamic experiment.
Mission activities officially ended in mid-February of this year, but
some science tasks will continue through fiscal year 1996.
Magellan was launched May 4, 1989, and entered orbit around Venus in
August 1990. In addition to its successful radar mapping activities,
the spacecraft also acquired a high-resolution gravity field map of 95
percent of the planet.
Scientists at the conference presented papers on the geology,
atmosphere, climate, volcanoes and tectonic processes of Venus, based
on the vast Magellan data set.
Full-resolution copies of the new Magellan images are available on
CD-ROM from the National Space Science Data Center in Greenbelt, MD
(301/286-6695). Electronic image files of the new images are available
from JPL's public access computer site, via Internet and the World Wide
Web at the address http://www.jpl.nasa.gov, or by anonymous file
transfer protocol (ftp) at the address ftp.jpl.nasa.gov, or by dial-up
modem to the telephone number 818/354-1333.
JPL managed the Magellan mission for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington, DC.
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- T o d d E. V a n H o o s e a r -
``'''vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu - vanhoose@msu.edu - vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu
(._.) Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI USA
(_) Computer Laboratory - Department of Communication
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