* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Magellan spacecraft

Blobrana · L

The Magellan spacecraft, also referred to as the Venus Radar Mapper, was a 1,035-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus using Synthetic Aperture Radar and measure the planetary gravity.
On October 11, 1994, moving at a velocity of 7-kilometers/second, the final orbital trim maneuver was performed, placing the spacecraft 139.7-kilometers above the surface, well within the atmosphere. At this altitude the spacecraft encountered tremendous friction, raising temperatures on the solar arrays to 126-degrees Celsius.
On October 13, 1994 at 10:05:00 UTC, communication was lost when the spacecraft entered radio occultation behind Venus.
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Venus Exploration

Blobrana · L

Magellan was launched on May 4, 1989, at 18:46:59 UTC by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from KSC Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-30. Once in orbit, an Inertial Upper Stage booster, deployed from the shuttle and launched on May 5, 1989 01:06:00 UTC, sending the spacecraft into a Type IV, heliocentric orbit where it would circle the Sun 1.5 times, before reaching Venus 15 months later on August 10, 1990.
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Blobrana · L

The Magellan spacecraft was a space probe arrived at its orbit around Venus on August 10, 1990.
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