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STS-30 / IUS | launch_site = Kennedy Space Center LC-39B | launch_contractor = | disposal_type = burned up in the Venusian atmosphere | decay_date = UTC | orbit_epoch = | orbit_reference = Cytherocentric | orbit_periapsis = | orbit_apoapsis = | orbit_inclination = | orbit_period = | apsis = cytherion |interplanetary = }} The ''Magellan'' spacecraft, also referred to as the Venus Radar Mapper, was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus by using synthetic aperture radar and to measure the planetary gravitational field. The ''Magellan'' probe was the first interplanetary mission to be launched from the Space Shuttle, the first one to use the Inertial Upper Stage booster for launching, and the first spacecraft to test aerobraking as a method for circularizing its orbit. ''Magellan'' was the fourth successful NASA mission to Venus, and it ended an eleven-year gap in U.S. interplanetary probe launches. ==History== Beginning in the late 1970s, scientists pushed for a radar mapping mission to Venus. They first sought to construct a spacecraft named the ''Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar'' (VOIR), but it became clear that the mission would be beyond the budget constraints during the ensuing years. The VOIR mission was canceled in 1982. A simplified radar mission proposal was recommended by the Solar System Exploration Committee, and this one was submitted and accepted as the Venus Radar Mapper program in 1983. The proposal included a limited focus and a single primary scientific instrument. In 1985, the mission was renamed ''Magellan'', in honor of the sixteenth-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, known for his exploration, mapping, and circumnavigation of the Earth. The objectives of the mission included:〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Magellan )〕 * Obtain near-global radar images of the Venusian surface with a resolution equivalent to optical imaging of 1.0 km per line pair. (''primary'') * Obtain a near-global topographic map with 50 km spatial and 100 m vertical resolution. * Obtain near-global gravity field data with 700 km resolution and two to three milligals of accuracy. * Develop an understanding of the geological structure of the planet, including its density distribution and dynamics. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Magellan (spacecraft)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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