Results from the Magellan mission to Venus

Magellan's radar-mapping mission to Venus has thus far accomplished the mapping of nearly 95 percent of the planet's surface; the 100-m resolution of these data facilitate studies of Venus' geological evolution. Widespread evidence of horizontal compression and extension at many scales is noted. Crustal deformation appears to be distributed across most of the surface. The density distribution of the interior of Venus will be explored in an upcomimg gravity experiment, in which accurate tracking of spacecraft orbital accelerations is used to identify gravity anomalies.