Number 54 (Story #2), November 4, 1991 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein THE FIRST GLOBAL MAP OF VENUS , constructed by computers from radar data gathered by the Magellan spacecraft, shows that the planet has been completely resurfaced by volcanic eruptions in the course of time. In fact, the dark lava flow on one volcanic peak, Maat Mons, appears to be less than ten years old. Although the Magellan survey is complete, new measurements will continue to be made. At a NASA news conference on October 29, the mission's chief scientist, Stephen Saunders of the Jet Propulsion Lab, asserted that "We probably have a better global map of Venus now than we have of Earth because most of the ocean basins on Earth are so poorly mapped." (The New York Times, 30 October 1991.)