Magellan spacecraft is shown in elliptical orbit around Venus, collecting data (radar mapping), and then transmitting data back to Earth in this artist concept. When the spacecraft orbit is close to Venus the synthetic aperature radar (SAR) will image a swath between 9 and 15 nautical miles (10 and 17 statute miles) (highlighted in image), beginning at or near the north pole and continuing to the southern hemisphere. Subsequent swaths will slightly overlap and, during its primary mission, the spacecraft will map most of the planet. When the spacecraft moves into the part of its elliptical orbit farthest from Venus, the spacecraft high-gain antenna will be turned toward Earth and will send the data collected during the imaging to Earth. Magellan, named after the 16th century Portuguese explorer, will orbit Venus about once every three hours, acquiring radar data for 37 minutes of each orbit. Magellan is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); Martin Marietta is developing the sp
