NASA Photo ID: S88-50419 File Name: 10063246.jpg
Film Type: 4x5 Date Taken: 04/27/88
Title: Art concept of Magellan spacecraft and inertial upper stage (IUS) deployment
Description:
Magellan spacecraft mounted on inertial upper stage drifts above Atlantis,
Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, after its deployment during mission STS-30 in
this artist concept. Solar panels are deployed and in OV-104's open
payload bay (PLB) the airborne support equipment (ASE) is visible. Both
spacecraft are orbiting the Earth. Magellan, named after the 16th century
Portuguese explorer, will orbit Venus about once every three hours,
acquiring radar data for 37 minutes of each orbit when it is closest to
the surface. Using an advanced instrument called a synthetic aperture
radar (SAR), it will map more than 90 per cent of the surface with
resolution ten times better than the best from prior spacecraft. Magellan
is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); Martin Marietta
Aerospace is developing the spacecraft and Hughes Aircraft Company, the
advanced imaging radar.
Subject terms:
ATLANTIS (ORBITER)
EARTH SURFACE
INERTIAL UPPER STAGE
MAGELLAN SPACECRAFT (NASA)
PAYLOAD BAY
STS-30
VISUAL AIDS
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