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1993-05-03
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PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
Contact: Jim Doyle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 1991
With more than 90 percent of Venus now mapped by the
Magellan spacecraft, Earth's nearest planetary neighbor is
described as a planet of searing winds, violent crustal
deformations and giant volcanic eruptions.
Dr. Steve Saunders, the Magellan Project Scientist at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the planet's volatility becomes
increasingly evident, and Magellan's imaging radar system is
particularly well-suited to unveiling its mysteries.
Magellan has orbited Venus 3,152 times over the past 377
days.
Of those orbits, 2,662 were mapping orbits and to date
Magellan has mapped 90.1 percent of the surface. The second cycle
coverage, which began May 16, has overlapped 26.4 percent of the
first cycle mapping.
Dr. Stephen Saunders, the project scientist, said that Venus
is even more torn by tectonic forces than had been thought before
the Magellan mapping began.
The spacecraft recently has completed the first look at the
western area of the continent-sized uplands called Ishtar Terra.
The plains-like area, named Lakshmi Planum, is elevated about two
miles above the average elevation of Venus. Lakshmi is surroundedby mountains that have been pushed up on all sides, including the
36,000-foot high Maxwell Mountains.
Scientists are studying images made during the recent
observation. One shows mosaics of mountains belts on the west and
south sides of Lakshmi Planum, the Akna and Danu mountains.
The image also shows an impact crater, named Wanda, which
appears to have been made after the Akna mountains formed. The
western ridge of the crater has collapsed onto its floor.
Another image shows the Danu mountains to the south of the
plains and a circular volcanic dome 12 miles in diameter. The
southern part of the dome has been deformed by the tectonic
processes which created the mountains.
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