Magellan Aerobrake Navigation
£5.00
J. Giorgini et al. (1995), JBIS, 48, pp.111-122
Refcode: 1995.48.111
Abstract:
The Magellan spacecraft has been orbiting Venus since August 10, 1990. Its primary mission has been to radar-map the Venusian surface. Over 98% of the planet has been observed at resolutions between 120 and 300 meters . With an axial rotation period of 243.01 days, Venus rotated beneath the spacecraft’s 3.25 hour, inertially fixed orbit three times during the radar-mapping phase, providing comparison scans at 8 month intervals. 4796 radar-mapping passes were made. Initial Magellan science results have been collected in reference [1]. Navigation during the 462 day flight to Venus and the first 20 months of mapping are discussed in references.
