Venus' Once Molten Surface
Explanation:
If you could look at Venus with radar eyes - this is what you might see.
This computer reconstruction of the surface of
Venus
was created from data from the
Magellan
spacecraft.
Magellan orbited
Venus
and used radar to map our neighboring planet's surface between 1990 and 1994.
Magellan
found many interesting surface features, including the
large circular domes, typically
25-kilometers across, that are
depicted
above. Volcanism is thought to have created the domes, although the
precise mechanism remains unknown.
Venus'
surface is so hot and hostile that no
surface probe has lasted more than a few minutes.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
