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A Venus Landing
| Title |
A Venus Landing |
| Explanation |
This image is part of the first color panoramic view from Venus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950815.html ]. It was transmitted by a TV camera on the Soviet Venera 13 lander which parachuted to the surface [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-venus.html #surface ] on March 1, 1982. Venus' [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950822.html ] clouds are composed of sulfuric acid droplets while its surface temperature is about 900 degrees Fahrenheit (482 degrees C) at an atmospheric pressure of 92 times that of sea-level on Earth. Despite these harsh conditions, the Venera 13 lander [ http://delcano.mit.edu/venera/ ] survived long enough to send back a series of images and perform an analysis of the Venusian soil. Part of the lander itself is visible in the lower right portion of the image. An earlier Soviet Venus lander, Venera 7 [ http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/venera7.html ] (1970), was the first spacecraft to return data from the surface of another planet. |
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A Venus Landing
| Title |
A Venus Landing |
| Explanation |
This image [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/v13_vg261_262.html ] is part of the first color panoramic view from Venus [ http://www.nineplanets.org/venus.html ]. A TV camera on the Soviet Venera 13 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1981-106D ] lander that parachuted to the surface on 1982 March 1 transmitted it. Venus' [ http://sseforum.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm?Display=Venus ] clouds are composed of sulfuric acid [ http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/Sulf&top/Sulf&Top.html ] droplets while its surface temperature is about 482 degrees Celsius [ http://www.astro.uu.se/history/celsius_scale.html ] at an atmospheric pressure of 92 times that of sea-level [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020527.html ] on Earth. Despite these harsh conditions, the Venera [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/venera.html ] 13 lander survived long enough to send back a series of images and perform an analysis of the Venusian soil [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1984pggp.rept...76G ]. Part of the lander itself is visible in the lower right portion of the image. An earlier Soviet [ http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/sutoc.html ] Venus lander, Venera 7 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1970-060A ] (1970), was the first spacecraft to return data from the surface of another planet. |
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Venus - Simulated Color of U
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| Title |
Venus - Simulated Color of Ushas Mons |
| Description |
Ushas Mons, a 2-kilometer-high (1.25 mile) volcano in the southern hemisphere of Venus is shown in this Magellan radar image. The image is centered at 25 degrees south latitude, 323 degrees east longitude, and shows an area approximately 600 kilometers (360 miles) on a side. The volcano is marked by numerous bright lava flows and a set of north-south trending fractures, many of which appear to have formed after the lavas were erupted onto the surface. In the central summit area, however, younger flows remain unfractured. An impact crater can be seen among the fractures in the upper center of the image. The association of faulting and volcanism is common on this type of volcano on Venus, and is believed to result from a large zone of hot material upwelling from the Venusian mantle, a phenomenon known on Earth as a "hot spot." Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structures. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Venera 13 and 14 landing craft. The data were acquired during the third eight-month cycle of Magellan's radar mapping, which ended in September 1992. Several narrow gaps in the Magellan coverage are filled with low-resolution radar data obtained by the Earth-based Arecibo radio telescope. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization Project and the Magellan Science Team at the Jet Propulsion Multimission Image Processing Laboratory. The Magellan mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science. |
| Date |
05.26.1993 |
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Venus - Simulated Color of L
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PIA00105
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - Simulated Color of Leda Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This false color Magellan image shows a portion of Leda Planitia (plains) in the northern hemisphere of Venus, centered at 41 degrees north latitude, 52 degrees east longitude. The area is 220 kilometers (135 miles) wide and 275 kilometers (170 miles) long. This image was produced from Magellan radar data collected in Cycle 2 of the mission. Cycle 2 was completed January 15, 1992. The area was not imaged during the first cycle because of superior conjunction when the sun was between the Earth and Venus, preventing communication with the spacecraft. This image contains examples of several of the major geologic terrains on Venus and illustrates the basic stratigraphy or sequence of geologic events. The oldest terrains appear as bright, highly-fractured or chaotic highlands rising out of the plains. This is seen in the upper left, or northwest, quadrant of the image. The chaotic highlands, sometimes called tessera, may represent older and thicker crustal material and occupy about 15 percent of the surface of Venus. The circular ring structure in the lower left of the image is probably an impact crater. This 40 kilometer (25 miles) diameter crater has been given a proposed name, Heloise, after the French physician who lived from about 1098 to 1164 A.D. The crater was formed by the impact of an asteroid sometime before the plains lavas embayed and covered the region. The plains surround and embay the fractured highland tessera. Plains are formed by fluid volcanic flows that may have once formed vast lava seas which covered all the low lying surfaces. Plains comprise more than 80 percent of the surface of Venus. The most recent activity in the region is volcanism that produced the radar bright flows best seen in the upper right quadrant of the image. Those flows are similar to the darker plains volcanics, but apparently have more rugged surfaces that more efficiently scatter the radar signal back to the spacecraft. Thus the geologic sequence is early fracturing of the tessera, flooding by extensive plains lavas and scattered, less extensive individual flows on the plains surface. Impact cratering occurs throughout geologic history and provides a rough estimate of the time scale. Craters larger than a few kilometers in diameter form on Venus, as they do on Earth, at the rate of about one per million years, with smaller impacts much more frequent than larger ones. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. |
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Venus - False Color Perspect
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PIA00200
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - False Color Perspective of Sif and Gula Mons |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
A portion of western Eistla Regio is shown in this three dimensional, computer-generated view of the surface of Venus. The viewpoint is at an elevation of 1.2 kilometers (0.75 mile) at a location 700 kilometers (435 miles) southeast of Gula Mons, the volcano on the right horizon. Gula Mons reaches 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) high and is located around 22 degrees north latitude and 359 degrees east longitude. Sif Mons, the volcano on the left horizon, has a diameter of 300 kilometers (186 miles) and a height of 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). Magellan imaging and altimetry data are combined to develop a three-dimensional computer view of the planet's surface. Simulated color based on color images from the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft is added to enhance small-scale structure. This image was produced at JPL's Multimission Image Processing Laboratory by Eric De Jong, Jeff Hall and Myche McAuley. Magellan is a NASA spacecraft mission to map the surface of Venus with imaging radar. The basic scientific instrument is a synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, which can look through the thick clouds perpetually shielding the surface of Venus. Magellan is in orbit around Venus which completes one turn around its axis in 243 Earth days. That period of time, one Venus day, is the length of a Magellan mapping cycle. The spacecraft completed its first mapping cycle and primary mission on May 15, 1991, and immediately began its second cycle. During the first cycle, Magellan mapped more than 80 percent of the planet's surface and the current and subsequent cycles of equal duration will provide complete mapping of Venus. Magellan was launched May 4, 1989, aboard the space shuttle Atlantis and went into orbit around Venus August 10, 1990. |
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Venus - False Color of Eistl
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PIA00258
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - False Color of Eistla Regio |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This false color Magellan image shows a portion of Eistla Regio (region) in the northern hemisphere of Venus, centered at 1 degrees south latitude, 37 degrees east longitude. The area is 440 kilometers (270 miles) wide and 350 kilometers (220 miles) long. This image was produced from Magellan radar data collected in Cycle 2 of the mission. Cycle 2 was completed January 15, 1992. The area was not imaged during the first cycle because of superior conjunction when the sun was between the Earth and Venus, preventing communication with the spacecraft. This image contains examples of several of the major geologic terrains on Venus and illustrates the basic stratigraphy or sequence of geologic events. The oldest terrain appears as bright, highly fractured or chaotic highlands rising out of the plains. This is seen in the right half of the image. The chaotic highlands, sometimes called tessera, may represent older and thicker crustal material and occupy about 15 percent of the surface of Venus. The fractured terrain in this region has a distinctly linear structure with a shear-like pattern. Plains surround and embay the fractured highland tessera. Plains are formed by fluid volcanic flows that may have once formed vast lava seas which covered all the low lying surfaces. Plains comprise more than 80 percent of the surface of Venus. The most recent activity in the region is volcanism that produced the radar bright flows best seen in the upper left quadrant of the image. The flows are similar, in their volcanic origin to the darker plains volcanics, but apparently have more rugged surfaces that more efficiently scatter the radar signal back to the spacecraft. The geologic sequence is early fracturing of the tessera, flooding by extensive plains lavas, and scattered less extensive individual flows on the plains surface. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. |
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Venus - Computer Simulated G
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PIA00271
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - Computer Simulated Global View of the Northern Hemisphere |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The northern hemisphere is displayed in this global view of the surface of Venus. The north pole is at the center of the image, with 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees east longitudes at the 6, 3, 12, and 9 o'clock positions, respectively, of an imaginary clock face. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics from the three eight-month cycles of Magellan radar mapping are mapped onto a computer-simulated globe to create this image. Magellan obtained coverage of 98 percent of the surface of Venus. Remaining gaps are filled with data from previous missions, (the Soviet Venera 15 and 16 radar and Pioneer Venus Orbiter altimetry) and data from Earth-based radar observations from the Arecibo radio telescope. Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structures. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Venera 13 and 14 landing craft. Maxwell Montes, the planet's highest mountain at 11 kilometers (6.6 miles) above the average elevation, is the bright feature in the lower center of the image. Other terrain types visible in this image include tessera, ridge belts, lava flows, impact craters and coronae. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization Project and the Magellan Science team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Multimission Image Processing Laboratory. The Magellan mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science. |
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Venus - Simulated Color of U
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PIA00272
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - Simulated Color of Ushas Mons |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Ushas Mons, a 2-kilometer-high (1.25 mile) volcano in the southern hemisphere of Venus is shown in this Magellan radar image. The image is centered at 25 degrees south latitude, 323 degrees east longitude, and shows an area approximately 600 kilometers (360 miles) on a side. The volcano is marked by numerous bright lava flows and a set of north-south trending fractures, many of which appear to have formed after the lavas were erupted onto the surface. In the central summit area, however, younger flows remain unfractured. An impact crater can be seen among the fractures in the upper center of the image. The association of faulting and volcanism is common on this type of volcano on Venus, and is believed to result from a large zone of hot material upwelling from the Venusian mantle, a phenomenon known on Earth as a "hot spot." Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structures. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Venera 13 and 14 landing craft. The data were acquired during the third eight-month cycle of Magellan's radar mapping, which ended in September 1992. Several narrow gaps in the Magellan coverage are filled with low-resolution radar data obtained by the Earth-based Arecibo radio telescope. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization Project and the Magellan Science Team at the Jet Propulsion Multimission Image Processing Laboratory. The Magellan mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science. |
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Venus - False Color of Bereg
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PIA00259
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - False Color of Bereghinya Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This false color Magellan image shows a portion of Bereghinya Planitia (plains) in the northern hemisphere of Venus, centered at 31 degrees north latitude, 43 degrees east longitude. The area is 260 kilometers (160 miles) wide and 330 kilometers (200 miles) long. This image was produced from Magellan radar data collected in Cycle 2 of the mission. Cycle 2 was completed January 15, 1992. The area was not imaged during the first cycle because of superior conjunction when the sun was between the Earth and Venus, preventing communication with the spacecraft. This image contains examples of several of the major geologic terrains on Venus and illustrates the basic stratigraphy or sequence of geologic events. The oldest terrains appear as bright, highly-fractured or chaotic highlands rising out of the plains. This is seen in the upper right and lower left quadrants of the image. The chaotic highlands, sometimes called tessera, may represent older and thicker crustal material and occupy about 15 percent of the surface of Venus. Plains surround and embay the fractured highland tessera. Plains are formed by fluid volcanic flows that may have once formed vast lava seas which covered all the low lying surfaces. Plains comprise more than 80 percent of the surface of Venus. The most recent activity in the region is volcanism that produced the radar bright flows best seen in the lower right quadrant of the image. The lava flows in this image are associated with the shield volcano Tepev Mons whose summit is near the lower left corner of the image. The flows are similar to the darker plains volcanics, but apparently have more rugged surfaces that more efficiently scatter the radar signal back to the spacecraft. The geologic sequence is early fracturing of the tessera, flooding by extensive plains lavas and scattered, less extensive individual flows on the plains surface. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. |
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Venus - Computer Simulated G
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PIA00270
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - Computer Simulated Global View Centered at 90 Degrees East Longitude |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This global view of the surface of Venus is centered at 90 degrees east longitude. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics from the three eight-month cycles of Magellan radar mapping are mapped onto a computer-simulated globe to create this image. Magellan obtained coverage of 98 percent of the surface of Venus. Remaining gaps are filled with data from previous Venus missions -- the Venera 15 and 16 radar and Pioneer-Venus Orbiter altimetry -- and data from Earth-based radar observations from the Arecibo radio telescope. Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structures. The simulated hues are based on color images obtained by the Venera 13 and 14 landing craft. The bright feature near the center of the image is Ovda Regio, a mountainous region in the western portion of the great Aphrodite equatorial highland. The dark areas scattered across the Venusian plains consist of extremely smooth deposits associated with large meteorite impacts. The image was produced by the Solar System Visualization Project and the Magellan Science team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Multimission Image Processing Laboratory. The Magellan mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science. |
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Venus - Three-Dimensional Pe
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PIA00481
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - Three-Dimensional Perspective View of Alpha Regio |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
A portion of Alpha Regio is displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus. Alpha Regio, a topographic upland approximately 1300 kilometers across, is centered on 25 degrees south latitude, 4 degrees east longitude. In 1963, Alpha Regio was the first feature on Venus to be identified from Earth-based radar. The radar-bright area of Alpha Regio is characterized by multiple sets of intersecting trends of structural features such as ridges, troughs, and flat-floored fault valleys that, together, form a polygonal outline. Directly south of the complex ridged terrain is a large ovoid-shaped feature named Eve. The radar-bright spot located centrally within Eve marks the location of the prime meridian of Venus. Magellan synthetic aperture radar data is combined with radar altimetry to develop a three-dimensional map of the surface. Ray tracing is used to generate a perspective view from this map. The vertical scale is exaggerated approximately 23 times. Simulated color and a digital elevation map developed by the U. S. Geological Survey are used to enhance small scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. The image was produced at the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory by Eric De Jong, Jeff Hall, and Myche McAuley, and is a single frame from the movie released at the March 5, 1991, press conference. |
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