Cosmic Oceans

From Magellan to Cosmos, explore 500 years of his legacy.

The Universe by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

500 years of legacy

The Portuguese explorer Magellan left his legacy in the first circumnavigation trip to planet Earth, the first orbital experience of our planet. And today, looking 500 years after that trip, we see the full extent of space, the cosmic ocean we have conquered since then.

Our Ocean World: Still Worth Exploring by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Our Ocean World: Still Worth Exploring

Today we see Earth through satelitte views that show us the oceans that Magellan sailed.

The Blue Planet by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Sailing the "Waters" of Cosmic Oceans

Magellan ships carried him around Earth, at a time when it was unimaginable.

LIFE Photo Collection

Learning from the Magellan Legacy

Now his legacy lives on in space through the spacecraft named after Magellan.

Magellan Spacecraft by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

From Magellan 1520 (earth) to Magellan 1991 (venus)

30 years ago the Magellan spacecraft set sail and went to explore our sister planet, Venus. 

Spacecraft Magellan


The Magellan Spacecraft was the first deep space probe launched by the United States of America in almost 11 years, and also the first probe launched by a space shuttle.

Lost Oceans: Our Sister Planet Venus by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Lost Oceans

The Magellan spacecraft found that at least 85% of the surface of Venus is covered with volcanic flows. Magellan gave us the views that carry our imagination to the cosmic oceans of this world where we believe its seas where lost in time, billions of years ago.

New Ocean Worlds? by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Frozen in rock seas of the Moon

50 years ago, the Project Apollo gave us the "Earthrise" from the perspective of the Moon. 
Today, thanks to the spacecraft Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter we can see the landscapes of the Moon as if we were there.

The Sun: Our Star by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Our Star

The sun, our star, drives the energy of our solar system and show us what other stars are like. Today we set sail to get to know the sun even better through the Parker Solar Probe mission.

Mars: New "Ocean" Worlds by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Mars and the unknown

And now we move on to explore the planet where we ask the though questions: Are we alone? Is this a place we're going?

Rockscapes and hidden waters by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Rockscapes and hidden waters

On Mars we know that the record of water is lurking in the rocks and in its climate history.

Venus Atmosphere by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Jupiter's Atmospheric Oceans

From Mars we can see also the record of water in planets like Jupiter, where its beautiful system of clouds and circulation can be captured with spacecraft through the mind's eyes of humanity.

Islands in Our Cosmic Sea by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Earth at the scale of Saturn

When we see Earth at the scale of Saturn we can imagine how small we are in that Cosmic Ocean.

In Titan, Saturn's largest moon, oceans exist, but not of water. 

Space is Our New Ocean by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

New Ocean Worlds

Little did Ferdinand Magellan know that all of these other worlds would harbor different kinds of fluids.

The James Webb Space Telescope by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

The Forever Frontier

The next step is the James Webb Space Telescope, a cosmic voyager like Magellan. Launching in 2021it will extend our imagination to those new oceanic worlds that we can only see in our mind's eyes.

The Magellan Legacy by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Magellan Legacy

Today we celebrate Magellan
500 years after the oceanic exploration that carried us forward to the exploration of deep space: the forever frontier.

Our Ocean World: Still Worth Exploring by James B. Garvin, Ph.D.The Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Global Exploration Summit - GLEX

Part of the Official Program of Celebrations, the Global Exploration Summit (GLEX) is a pioneering summit that brings together living legends of scientific exploration of the planet and space in a debate for the deepening of knowledge of our world and other worlds around us. 

Ferdinand Magellan, 16th centuryThe Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

To help us frame the objectives of this summit, we talked to Richard Garriott, The Explorers Club's president, one of the promoters of the event, who told us about his admiration for the explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

Talks: New Frontiers by Mission Structure of the V the 5th Centennial of the First Voyage of Circum-NavigationThe Portuguese Task Force for the Commemorations of the V Centenary of Circumnavigation

Credits: Story

Curatorship and scientific supervision of: NASA Chief Scentist James GarvinCredits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Technical support: Mito+Rito  

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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