NASA: Magellan Memories

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NASA’s Space Story

Program: Magellan Memories

The spacecraft Magellan has spent its entire existence sending back information about Venus. Steve Saunders, project scientist for the Magellan mission, describes the long, slow mapping of the veiled planet and some of the surprising geographic features the spacecraft found. These include a vast riverbed cut by lava and a mysterious absence of old meteorite craters. In a swan song this fall, Magellan will gather data about the Venusian atmosphere before crash landing onto the planet’s newly mapped surface.

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