The Magellan spacecraft, also called the Venus Radar Mapper, was a NASA spaceprobe designed to explore the Venus planet. It was launched on May 4, 1989, and reached Venus on August 10, 1990. It was in orbit around Venus for four years making detailed maps of the surface using radar and measuring the planet's gravity. Because of the thick atmosphere around the planet, the information from Magellan provided scientists with their first views of the surface of Venus. On October 12, 1994, the Magellan spacecraft was crashed into the planet on purpose.