To increase the accuracy of its gravity map of the planet Venus, NASA’s unmanned space probe Magellan conducts the first experimental aerobraking maneuvers to alter the shape its orbit to a near-circular shape. By dipping Magellan into the upper layers of the Venusian atmosphere, the spacecraft is slowed and its orbit is changed, but it is kept far enough from the denser lower layers of the atmosphere to avoid re-entry. Aerobraking will become more commonly used by future space probes at the planet Mars.
theLogBook.com
https://www.theLogBook.com
Earl Green is the creator, curator, and head writer of theLogBook.com.
Also of interest...
NASA exercises the Uranus Option
December 18, 1980
Ambition soundtrack
January 15, 2015
The Upper Atmosphere Research Panel
February 27, 1946