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The Planetary Report • July/August 1987

Venus

Venus

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On the Cover: Venus' highest mountain, Maxwell Montes, appears in this new map compiled from data returned by the Soviet <i>Venera 15</i> and <i>16</i> orbiters. The main mountain (shown here In red and white) is part of a tectonic mountain belt and spans about 1,000 km from north to south. Maxwell Montes rises 11 km above Venus'mean surface; Earth's tallest peak, Mauna Loa, is only 8 km above the Pacific Ocean floor. Tying strips of altimetric data together to produce this preliminary map was an arduous task; elaborate image enhancement and radar-image mosaics will be completed later.

Features

4 Auroras at Venus? Taming the Venus Dragon: Harry Taylor asks: Are volcanoes still erupting on Venus?

6 Lightning on Venus—An Alternate View: William Borucki offers an opposing argument.

7 How the Planetary Sciences Struggle Toward the Truth: James Burke discusses paradigm shifts in the field in the 20th century.

8 Eighteen Months of META: A Status Report on The Planetary Society's SETI Project: Paul Horowitz gives an update on this exciting project.

12 A Space Station Worth the Cost: The Planetary Society Proposal: Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman gave this testimony before The Senate Appropriations Committee on May 1, 1987.

Departments

3 Q&A Why don't we feel how fast the Earth is moving through space?

11 News & Reviews Selling CRAF.

14 Society Notes SETI, Halley's Comet, and inventing aliens.

Venus

The Planetary Report • July/August 1987

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