Space
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
North Essex Astronomical Society
Continuing on from his models of the Cassini-Huygens and Galileo spacecraft, Terry Regan this time moves on to the planet Venus and talks us through his scratchbuilt scale model of the Magellan spacecraft. The Magellan spacecraft was the first interplanetary spacecraft to be launched by the Space Shuttle when it was carried onboard the shuttle Atlantis in 1989. Atlantis released Magellan into low Earth orbit, where a solid fuel motor was then fired sending Magellan on a fifteen month cruise to Venus – arriving in August 1990. The main objectives for Magellan was to map the surface of Venus using radar, collecting topographical and gravity field data in the process.
Eye on the Sky QUICK LOOK WHAT'S UP SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE SKY GUIDE TO SOLAR OBSERVING
Astronomy Now Online
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Explanation: Although its colors may be subtle, Saturn's moon Helene is an enigma in any light. The moon was imaged in unprecedented detail last June as the robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn swooped to within a single Earth diameter of the diminutive moon . Although conventional craters and hills appear , the above image also shows terrain that appears unusually smooth and streaked.Can you drop a probe on a comet? A new iPhone game from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory puts you in control of the Rosetta spacecraft as it prepares to intercept Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Download it now .
