The Magellan project was set up so that the initial images and data from the Magellan probe were only for use and study by a team of principal investigators from a variety of universities and institutions, and by the Magellan Project Science Team. These scientists were responsible for validating the data, contributing input for spacecraft acquisition of data, and interpreting the data results for their release to the public. Data were shared with three visiting Soviet scientists (Alexander Basilevsky, Effaim Akim and Alexander Zacharov), a first, and sensitive issue, for NASA at the time considering the Cold War was just coming to a close.