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March 1993
This map shows the surface of Venus as captured in altimeter topography data from the Magellan spacecraft during its first three 8-month cycles in orbit around the planet. The map is displayed in Mercator projection. Areas not mapped by Magellan are shown in gray, filled with data from the altimeter on the earlier Pioneer Venus spacecraft. Areas mapped by Magellan are color-coded, with red marking the highest areas such as Maxwell Mons and Maat Mons, and blue marking the lowest areas. Synthetic "shadowing" has also been added to enhance the visibility of features. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Magellan mission for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.
Magellan Images