Of all the planets in the solar system.

limited-Venus always shows the time, we will come to know the face of
Venus is the most like our own Earth in same hemisphere to us when it is near our planetary "twin."
size. mass, and distance from the Sun. enough in its orbit for high-resolution
The motions of our planetary "twin" study. so only a fraction of the planet The Spacecraft
were known to the ancients, and its can be explored from Earth.
apparent changes in shape. similar to In 1978. NASA launched the Pioneer A key feature of the Magellan
the phases of the Moon. were first Venus spacecraft to conduct the most mission is the economy and relative
studied by Galileo more than four thorough investigation of Venus ever simplicity of its design. To save costs,
centuries ago. In the modern era. it is undertaken. Most of the experiments hardware was borrowed from other
by far the most visited world in the concerned the planet's atmosphere. planetary programs. notably Voyager
solar system-more than 20 but the spacecraft also carried a radar and Galileo. The 975 kilogram (2150
spacecraft from the Soviet Union and system that mapped 92% of the pound) spacecraft has only one
the United States have been sent there surface from Venus orbit with a science instrument:a radar system
m c e the early 1960's.The clouds of resolution (a rneasure of the smallest used for imaging. for altimetric profiling
Venus have been probed, the structure Objects that can be seen in its map) of of the planet's topography, and for
and composition of its atmosphere about 100 kilometers (km) (60 miles). measuring radiation from the Venus
measured, its landscape photographed. For the first time. planetary scientists surface. Magellan's only moving parts
and its rocks chemically analyzed by had a global map of Venus that are a pair of 5.8 meter panels that
automated landers. showed the existence of its collect solar energy for charging the
Yet. for all our fascination with Venus, cont i nent-like highlands -Ap hrodite spacecraft's nickel-cadmium batteries.
\rye have only a sketchy. general and Ishtar-its hilly plains, the large. These will turn around their axes
knowledge of the planet's surface. volcano-like mountains of Beta Regio, during the mission to follow the Sun
While the other three "terrestrial" and the flat lowlands. without the spacecraft's having to
worlds-Earth. Mercury. and Mars- Five years after Pioneer, in 1983, the rotate.
have long since been mapped. details Soviet Union sent two Venera Magellan's large. 3.7 meter (12 ft.)
of the face of Venus are still largely spacecraft to n a p Venus at a high-gain antenna dish (used for radar
unknown, due to the planet's dense, resolution of approximately 2 km. imaging and for communicating with
constant cloud cover. The clouds Because of the nature of their orbits Earth) and the spacecraft "bus"
prevent us from ever photographing around the pianet. :hey were only able containing electronics subsystems
the solid surface. even from space, tc map abou! 3006 of the surface near were both acquired from a spare
Lvith conventional cameras. the norlh pole. Although the Venera 15 Voyager spacecraft. The computers
B e g i m n g in the early 1960% and 16 images have answered some of used for commanding. handling data.
scientists on Earth began to counter our questiorx about Venus. many more and attitude control will create the high
this problem by using radar waves, remain unanswered.And the Pioneer resolution pictures required for the
which. unlike visible light, are able to Venus radar map. as important as it is. Magellan mapping mission. Synthetic
penetrate the Venusian clouds and shows only large-scale features. The Aperture Radar (SAR).however. relies
reflect off the solid planet back to hills and valleys, craters and lava flows on a different principle to form its
Earth. With the help of computer -the telling details of Venus geology image. By combining successive radar
processing. these radar reflections can -are as yet uncharted. returns taken while the surface of
be turned into pictures of the Venus In April 1988, NASA plans to launch Venus passes through the beam of the
surface. Earth-based radar imaging is the Magellan spacecraft from the antenna. the radar system will be able
thus extremely valuable. but it also is space shuttle. It will arrive at Venus in to electronically reproduce the
July 1988 to begin an eight-month resolution of a larger antenna. This
mission that will map more than 90% of "aperture synthesis" is what gives SAR
the planet with a resolution more than its power as well as its name.
100 times better than that of Pioneer
Venus. and nearly ten times better than
any views of the surface taken since
that time. More than any other single
mission. Magellan is expected to
unveil the secrets of the Venusian past,
just as Mariner 9 revealed the
unsuspected richness of Martian
geology in 1972. In 1988. for the first

2 For ssle br the S u p v i n f c n d m I of Documents. V.S. Gorernment Printing Office

Fmhinrfon. D.C. ZWO?
 Since each point in the radar image
will have a unique Doppler shift and
range, these two coordinates and a
knowledge of the angle of the
antenna's line of sight with respect to
the surface are all that are needed to
get a fix on the location of any returned
signal. The brightness of the image at
Orbiil path that point then becomes an element of
the map image.
Using this technique data will be
collected by the radar instrument and
radioed back to Earth. where images
of the Venusian surface will be
constructed by computers. The
images will have a radar resolution of
about 120 meters for the equatorial
regions of the planet (where Magellan
will pass closest to the surface) and
about 190 meters near the poles. In
Lines of equal these radar photographs. it will be
Doppler shift possible tc distinguish features as
small as 250 meters on the surface. By
comparison. the best existing
L Illuminated LLines of equal ground-based and spacecraft maps of
ground track area distance
Venus show no features smaller than 1
or 2 km.

,K3h. Sj,?th€t!CAperture t?adaT IS*.Ri location of the point with referenceto April 1988: From Earth to Venus
.:oris. Any pa!,?: ir! the radar map image the spacecraft's line of fiight. since In April. 1988. Magellan will be
can be iocater' oy using rbwocoord'nates - Magellan will either be approaching or carried into low Earth orbit by the
:he distance to rhe poin; idetermned by the receding from the point at any given
time delay of the returning signal). and the
space shuttle. then launched from the
time. (Doppler shift is a change in shuttle's cargo bay into its own orbit
amount of Doppler shift in !he signa/ The
SAR antenna looks" to one side of its
'
wavelength caused when an object is with an upper stage Centaur G rocket
orbitai path to distinguish right-side from moving relative to a wave source. A motor attached to its base. After
ieft-side signais familiar example is the apparent several revolutions around the Earth,
change in pitch of a car horn or a train the Centaur rocket will fire to boost the
As MagelIan passes over the whistle as it moves toward or away Magellan spacecraft toward Venus.
surface of Venus. its dish antenna will from you. Waves from an approaching The target date of April, 1988 is not
look downward and to the side of the source are bunched together and arbitrary, but is timed so that Magellan
spacecraft's orbital path. The SAR made shorter. When the source is can travel an orbit joining Earth and
antenna will illuminate an area 25 km receding. the waves are stretched out Venus that requires a minimum amount
(15 miles) wide with rapid radar pulses, and become longer.) of fuel. The period of launch
then record the returning signals. Each opportunity lasts for 20 days.
point on the planet's surface can then beginning April E Venus during that
be located by using two coordinates. time will be approximately 90 million
First. a measurement of the time it km (56 million miles) from Earth. and it
takes for the radar signal to return to will take just under four months for
Magellan will give the spacecraft's Magellan to reach its destination.
distance to that point. Second, a Trajectory correction maneuvers along
careful measurement of the Doppler the way will keep the spacecraft on
shift of the returned signals will give the time and on target.

3
 When it arrives at Venus in late July,
a solid rocket motor attached to the
spacecraft will fire to place Magellan in
orbit around the planet. After a few
adjustment maneuvers, Magellan will
be in a highly elliptical orbit, with its
lowest point 300 km (185 miles) from
the surface and its high point at an
altitude of 7,762 km (4,823 miles). The
time required for Magellan to make one
complete orbit around Venus-the
orbit period-will be 3.1hours. Since
the orbit will be tilted five degrees to
the axis of Venus, the spacecraft will
pass nearly, but not quite, over the
north and south poles.
Although Venus is very much like the
Earth in size and mass, there are a
number of peculiarities about the
planet’s rotation on its axis. One is that
it turns in the opposite direction from
Earth, spinning on its axis from east to
west instead of west to east. Another is
that the Venusian “day” is very long-it
takes 243 of our Earth days for the
to Earth
planet to make one rotation. (Strangely, Turn
it takes only 224 days for Venus to
make one complete orbit around the
Sun: the Venusian “day” is longer than
the Venusian year.) Magellan will be in
a fixed polar orbit around a very slowly planet in a wide loop. As a result of this The 3.1 hour orbit of Magellan is divided
turning globe, and since it will take 243 elliptical orbit, Magellan will only be into distinct phases. When the spacecraft is
days for every point on the surface to close enough to the surface to conduct closest to Venus,the radar antenna maps
pass under its gaze once, the mapping operations for about 35 the surface (A), alternating between north
and south swaths on successive passes.
mapping operations are planned to minutes out of each three-hour orbital
After radar operations are completed, the
take exactly 243 days. period. The rest of the time will be antenna is turned to point toward Earth (6)
The target date for arrival at Venus is spent transmitting the raw data from so that data can be transmitted (C).After a
July 26, 1988. This will place Magellan the just-completed mapping pass and period of calibrating the spacecraft’s
in Venus orbit in time to finish its receiving telemetry instructions from navigational system (D) and another data
mapping mission before superior Earth, or calibrating the spacecraft’s playback, Magellan turns its attention once
conjunction (the lining up of the planet navigation and guidance system with again to the surface.
behind the Sun as seen from Earth), reference stars.
during which time there would be too During mapping operations, the When Magellan’s elliptical orbit brings it
much disturbance to radio high-gain antenna dish will point down close to the surface of Venus,the radar
communicationsto conduct spacecraft at the surface of Venus. In addition to instrument will look through the clouds to
operations. taking radar imaging data, the radar map the solid planet. Most ofthe rest of the
system will use a separate horn time will be spent transmitting data back to
Mapping the Veiled Planet antenna aimed at the surface directly Earth.
beneath the spacecraft for Magellan’s
Circling the planet every 3.1 hours,
Magellan will pass closest to the altimetry experiment. Radar pulses
surface just north of the equator at 10 from this fan-beam horn antenna will
degrees Venus latitude, then will move bounce off the surface and return to
up over the north pole and around the the radar receiver. By measuring the

4
Venus largest elevated landmass mapped. Becausethe large The Planet Venus
Aphrodite has two major mountain regions "continent" of Ishtar, which seems to
on opposite sides of the continent In have a number of significant geologic Although the Earth and Venus have
addition to the rough mountainous regions provinces, appears on Pioneer Venus very similar bulk properties, there are
Aphrodite also has the lowest elevations on maps to extend into high northern important differences between the two
Venus -in the trenches of Diana Chasrna
latitudes, it was decided to provide full planets They are most likely made of
which may be a rift valley caused by crusta/
extension
coverage of the northern hemisphere; the same type of silicate rock, and their
mapping coverage of the southern interiors are probably similar but
hemisphere will extend to about -67 Venus does not appear to have a
degrees latitude. magnetic field as Earth does Venus is
Magellan's elliptical orbit makes it Thus. about eight times each day, for closer to the Sun than we are and
impossible to obtain full coverage of 243 days, Magellan will take radar receives almost twice as much solar
both poles during the course of a 243 images of the surface of Venus, with radiation Both planets have
day mission, so mission designers had the result that, by project's end. atmospheres The Venusian
to choose whether the northern or approximately 90%of the planet will atmosphere however. is much denser
southern hemisphere would be fully have been mapped. than our own, and IS composed almost

7
A portion of the continent of lshtar IS
Shown in this computer-processed Pioneer
Venbs image At the cerller is V t Maxwell
talier than M t Everest and beheved to be
an active volcano The Lakshrni plateau
rismg 4-5 km above the mean level of
Venus is bordered by .nounrain ranges to
the north and northwest The plateau I S
believed to consist of thin lavas overlying
a. upbfteo Section of dder crust Soviet
Venera radar data suggest tha?the
depression called Colette is a collapsed
vo'canic crater On Ishtar s southern flank
are ?heUt ana Vesta ciiffs which descend
lo vast lomiads

entirely of carbon dioxide, with a

high-altitude covering of clouds
composed of sulfuric acid. It is this
thick blanket of carbon dioxide that
traps incoming thermal radiation
between the solid planet and the
atmosphere and makes Venus a
perpetual furnace, where surface
temperatures reach 480C (9OOF)and
the atmospheric pressure is 90 times
that of Earth. Any water that might have
once existed has long since
disappeared: Venus today IS bone-dry.
We know some things about
Venusian geology from past space
probes and from Earth-based radar
studies. Soviet Venera lander photos
and chemical analysis experiments
performed on the surface have shown
that the rocks of the highland areas
near the landers are heavy and
basaltic, like the rocks of Earth's ocean
floor or the rocks that form from oozing
volcanic lava flows.
The large-scale geography of the
planet has been disclosed by radar
studies from Earth, and more fully, by
the Pioneer Venus Orbiter in 1978.
Most of the planet consists of either
rolling upland plains (these are
apparently composed of older crustal
rock) or smooth lowland areas. There
are two major continents. or elevated
plateaus-Aphrodite, named for the
Roman equivalent of the goddess Oniy very geierai conclusions about the more sensibve Magellan spacecraft will
Venus. and Ishtar, named for the geoiogy of a pianel-Venus or Earth-can give scienlists a better understa,?ding of
Babyloman equivalent-that appear to be drawn fro^ radar images with the processes ?ha?have shaped rhe surface
be younger geologically. lshtar is about resolution obtained by Pioneer Venus The and the interior of Venus

9
the size of Australia; Aphrodite is about such as the Himalayas and the Alps The radar images should be able to
twice as large, or approximately the are thrust upward. Where the plates discriminate between successive,
same size as South America. Jutting pull apart, rift valleys and ocean basins overlapping lava flows so as to
u p from the lshtar highlands is one of form. Earthquakes and volcanoes, the determine the sequence of volcanic
the highest mountains in the solar major geologic upheavals on our events that shaped the surface. By
system, 10,800meter-high (35,400ft) planet, occur primarily at plate examining the slopes and shapes of
Mount Maxwell, which is most likely an boundaries where pieces of the crust these volcanic flows, it also will be
active volcano. Two other highland are stretching apart or crunching possible for scientists to make
areas of apparent volcanic origin, together. judgments about the composition of
Alpha Regio and Beta Regio, also Although we might logically expect the lava, which again gives clues
stand out conspicuously on the Earth's "twin" to have similar processes about the makeup of the planet's
Pioneer Venus map. shaping its surface, we have yet to see interior and the thickness of the crust.
evidence of planetwide plate tectonics Earlier spacecraft data have shown
on Venus. On Earth, where plates are that the gravitational field of Venus is
The Earth and Venus: Twins?
pushing away from each other in the strongest over the planet's elevated
Some 4.6 billion years ago, the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there is a plateaus-further evidence that
planets of the solar system condensed volcanic ridge thousands of kilometers young, volcanic rocks are being piled
as large, individual knots in a whirlpool in length where a great deal of the up in these highland areas. Magellan's
of solid material revolving around the planet's internal heat is vented. No gravity survey will collect more
Sun. Heavier elements like iron and such conspicuous plate boundaries information on this correlation between
silicon remained in the inner solar appear in the Pioneer Venus map, gravity and topography.
system to form the rocky planets however, suggesting that if a system of
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The plate tectonics does exist on Venus, it
lighter gasses-hydrogen and helium must be of a different kind than Earth's.
Impact Craters
-went to form the giant planets (It should be noted, though, that
beyond the asteroid belt. The largest evidence of plate tectonics on our Meteorite impact craters also
rocky planet, Earth, was extremely hot planet would only be marginally visible appear in radar images of Venus, and
in those millennia after it condensed at the resolution of Pioneer.) another major task for Magellan will be
into a tight ball, and in its early history to distinguish these impact scars from
the planet shed heat through great volcanic craters and to take count of
violent volcanoes that covered its Questions For Magellan's how many are still preserved on the
surface. The Earth still sheds heat Exploration of Venus surface and where they exist. This is
today, but now on a low simmer, with an important point to establish, since
Volcanoes
isolated chains of volcanoes spewing the more cratered a surface is, and the
hot material from the interior. One of the most important tasks for larger the craters it contains, the older
The Earth's upper crust is divided Magellan during its mapping mission it is likely to be. Earth's surface, for the
into pieces-tectonic plates-that will be to take an inventory of volcanic most part, is young and uncratered.
move around the planet's curved craters on the Venusian surface so that Although meteorites have struck our
surface, driven by convection cells in scientists can reconstruct the planet's planet in the past, the evidence has
the hot fluid rock underneath the solid geologic history. Ground-based and been erased by wind and water
crust. One of the most important Venera radar images have shown the erosion and by the constant motion of
questions for the study of Venus is existence of volcanic craters on the tectonic plates through time-the
whether a similar process of plate lshtar plateau. Electrical discharges surface of Earth is a slate that has
tectonics has shaped the surface of detected by the Pioneer Venus been drawn on, wiped clean, and
our planetary "twin." Virtually all of the spacecraft in the clouds above Mt. reworked again over millions of
large-scale features of the Earth, Maxwell, high concentrations of sulfur centuries. Venus, on the other hand,
including the mountain chains and the dioxide in the atmosphere, and other appears to retain evidence of a
ocean basins, are a result of the data suggest that Maxwell may be an comparatively distant past. Magellan's
movement of these plates. When active volcano, possibly one of many still global inventory of craters should have
continental plates collide, mountains active on Venus. By counting how many much to tell scientists about the
volcanoes are on Venus' surface and
showing where and what kind they are,
Magellan will provide data on the
planet's internal processes.
This processeo Syniheiic Aperture Radar
(SARl image of ihe Mt St Helens region of
in/ashl.ig?onwas taken by the SEASAT
oceanographic saieiiiie Magellans SAR
insiruvent twil return radar Images of
Venus wih cornparaole res0i'u:ion

11
planet’s history and the age of different and rift-like valleys appear in radar to the existence of ancient oceans. This
geologic provinces. The rate of surface images of lshtar Terra. These features would have profound implications for the
cratering will also provide information are most probably caused by the evolution of the planet’s atmosphere as
on how dense the planet’s atmosphere compression or extension of the crust. well as its surface. Although the most
has been through time. Magellan will reveal the details of theserecent Venera radar pictures have shown
At the best resolutions obtained to features, allowing scientists to no signs of large-scale erosion by wind
date, it is unclear whether certain characterize how Venusian tectonics on Venus, and surface winds there are
circular features seen on Venus are the work. It has been proposed that the believed to be slower than on Earth,
scars of old impacts, or whether they high surface temperatures on Venus there may be large windblown dunes on
are collapsed remnants of volcanic play a part in the distortion of the crust,
the surface that would show up in high
craters or domes of rock somehow and Magellan will provide new data to resolution Magellan images.
warped upward by tectonic forces. test that theory. Large rift valleys such The Venera spacecraft have
Magellan’s resolutionshould help clear as Devana Chasma in Beta Regio will inspected less than one third of the
up the mystery. If the radar images be scrutinized to see whether they surface of Venus at high resolution.
show large stretches of old, cratered were formed by volcanic processes or Over the course of one Venusian year,
terrain, it would argue against tectonic by tectonic motion. Magellan will map nearly the entire
motion in those regions,since globe with ten times the detail of these
compression or extension of the crust Water and Wind best previous spacecraft images, and
would destroy old craters. It would also will reveal, if they exist, signs of
indicate that the processes of erosion Another critical question about volcanic, wind, water, and meteorite
proceed much more slowly on Venus Venus is whether it once had water on impact forces: in short, all the
than on Earth. its surface. Modern-day ratios of processes that dictate a planet’s
deuterium to hydrogen in Venus’ history and shape its face. By doing
atmosphere suggest that at some point that, the Magellan mission should help
Faults, Ridges, and Mountains
in the past there was more water in the to answer the question of why Venus,
There evidently is some kind of planet’s atmosphere. Magellan will be our planetary “twin,” is at the same
crustal movement at work on Venus, looking for evidence of ancient marine time so much of a stranger.
because mountain-likefolded ridges terraces, river channels and deltas, or
other geologic features that might point

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