Magellan — launch
Date in UTC
The Magellan spacecraft was a 1,035-kilogram (2,282 lb) robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989. Its mission objectives were to map the surface of Venus by using synthetic-aperture radar and to measure the planetary gravitational field. The Magellan probe was the first interplanetary mission to be launched from the Space Shuttle, the first one to use the Inertial Upper Stage booster, and the first spacecraft to test aerobraking as a method for circularizing its orbit. Magellan was the fifth successful NASA mission to Venus, and it ended an eleven-year gap in U.S. interplanetary probe launches. Beginning in the late 1970s, scientists advocated for a radar mapping mission to Venus.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan_(spacecraft). Related NASA reference: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/magellan/. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- Category
- Launches and Flight Tests
- Type
- Orbital launch
- Subjects
- Space transportation
- Mission
- Magellan
- Organization
- NASA Johnson Space Flight Center
- Participants
- NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
- Vehicle
- Space Shuttle
- Location
- NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
- Country
- US
- Outcome
- Successful
Context and qualifications
Launch code: DS. Source references: STSJSC; -.
Sources and attribution
- Jonathan McDowell — General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (opens in a new tab) — Data from GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org/space/gcat), CC BY 4.0. Adapted into anniversary records. (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikipedia — Magellan (opens in a new tab) — Adapted from Wikipedia contributors; selected sentences retained and edited for length, reference markers and pronunciation glosses. CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Article and edit history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan_(spacecraft) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Timeline of Space Exploration Missions 1957 to 2031 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA — Magellan (opens in a new tab)
- NASA NSSDCA — Magellan (opens in a new tab)
