October 7, 2019 - A Sacrifice for Science
A Sacrifice for Science Launched in May 1989, the Magellan spacecraft arrived at Venus in August 1990. During its four years in orbit, Magellan used radar to see through the clouds that perpetually veil Venus. Ninety-eight percent of the planet was thus mapped, providing global, three-dimensional views of unprecedented clarity. In this computer-generated image, lava flows spread across the fractured plains in the foreground for hundreds of kilometers, from the base of Maat Mons, a nine-kilometer-high (5 mi) equatorial volcano. At mission’s end and low on power, Magellan gathered some final scientific data by intentionally dipping into Venus’s atmosphere. Twenty-five years ago this week, contact was lost with the daring spacecraft when Magellan, as planned, burned up in the atmosphere.
Image credit: NASA / JPL
Weekly Calendar
October 7 - 13, 2019
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 7
1885: Niels Bohr born
1959: Luna 3 returns first images of the lunar far side
2002: STS-112 Atlantis launched
2010: Soyuz TMA-01M launched carrying ISS Expedition 25/26 crew
Tuesday 8
Yom Kippur begins at sunset
Draconid meteor shower
1873: Ejnar Hertzsprung born
Wednesday 9
Draconid meteor shower
1604: Kepler’s Supernova observed
2009: LCROSS detects water on the Moon
Thursday 10
Moon at apogee
Neptune 4° north of Moon
1846: William Lassell discovers Triton, moon of Neptune
1980: Very Large Array dedicated
1983: Venera 15 orbits Venus
2007: ISS Expedition 16 crew launched
Friday 11
1968: Apollo 7 launched
1969: Soyuz 6, 7 & 8 in space at once
1994: Magellan mission ends
2000: STS-92 Discovery launched
2005: Shenzhou 6 launched
2018: Soyuz MS-10 launched carrying ISS Expedition 57/58, in-flight launch abort
Saturday 12
1964: Voskhod 1 launched, first three-person space flight
1977: Shuttle Enterprise’s first glide test without aerodynamic tailcone
2008: ISS Expedition 18 crew launched
Sunday 13
Full Moon 5:08 PM ET
1773: Charles Messier observes M-51
1933: British Interplanetary Society founded
1968: Apollo 7 first live TV broadcast from space
2004: ISS Expedition 10 crew launched