Venus: Hemispheric view produced by Magellan venusglobe
The surface of Venus is displayed in this global view. The image is centered around the equator of Venus at 90°E longitude. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics are mapped onto a hemispheric map projection to create this image.
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Image Credit: NASA.  

This image is a composite of the complete radar image collection obtained by the Magellan mission. The Magellan spacecraft was launched aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May 1989 and began mapping the surface of Venus in September 1990. The spacecraft continued to orbit Venus for four years, returning high-resolution images, altimetry, thermal emissions and gravity maps of 98 percent of the surface. Magellan spacecraft operations ended on October 12, 1994, when the radio contact was lost with the spacecraft during its controlled descent into the deeper portions of the Venusian atmosphere. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics are mapped onto a rectangular latitude-longitude grid to create this image. Data gaps are filled with Pioneer-Venus Orbiter altimetric data, or a constant mid- range value. Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. Ovda Regio is centered in this 90° East longitude view. This global data set reveals a number of craters consistent with an average Venus surface age of 300 million to 500 million years.
 
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