Venus Express will probe the hidden mysteries of Venus
The European spacecraft Venus Express has been successfully placed into a trajectory that will take it on its journey from Earth towards the planet Venus, which it will reach next April. Venus Express is currently distancing itself from Earth at full speed on its five-month, 350 million kilometre journey.
A virtual twin sister of the Mars Express spacecraft which has been orbiting the Red Planet since December 2003, Venus Express is the second planet-bound probe to be launched by the European Space Agency.
Venus Express will eventually maneuver itself into orbit around Venus and perform a detailed study of the structure, chemistry, and dynamics of the planet's atmosphere, which is characterised by extremely high temperatures, very high atmospheric pressure, and a huge 'greenhouse effect.'
The probe largely re-uses the architecture developed for Mars Express. This has reduced manufacturing cycles and halved the mission cost, while still targeting the same scientific goals.
When making its closest approach, however, Venus Express will face far tougher conditions than those encountered by Mars Express on nearing the Red Planet. For while Venus's size is indeed similar to that of Earth, its mass is 7.6 times that of Mars, with gravitational attraction to match.
"With Venus Express, we fully intend to demonstrate yet again that studying the planets is of vital importance for life here on Earth," said Jean Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General.
"To understand climate change on Earth and all the contributing factors, we cannot make do with solely observing our own planet. We need to decipher the mechanics of the planetary atmosphere in general terms. With Mars Express, we are studying the Martian atmosphere. With Huygens, we have explored that of Saturn's satellite Titan.
"And now with Venus Express, we are going to add a further specimen to our collection. Originally, Venus and the Earth must have been very similar planets. So we really do need to understand why and how they eventually diverged to the point that one became a cradle for life while the other developed into a hostile environment."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Click here for more. -Ed.
And here, as well. -Ed.
A virtual twin sister of the Mars Express spacecraft which has been orbiting the Red Planet since December 2003, Venus Express is the second planet-bound probe to be launched by the European Space Agency.
Venus Express will eventually maneuver itself into orbit around Venus and perform a detailed study of the structure, chemistry, and dynamics of the planet's atmosphere, which is characterised by extremely high temperatures, very high atmospheric pressure, and a huge 'greenhouse effect.'
The probe largely re-uses the architecture developed for Mars Express. This has reduced manufacturing cycles and halved the mission cost, while still targeting the same scientific goals.
When making its closest approach, however, Venus Express will face far tougher conditions than those encountered by Mars Express on nearing the Red Planet. For while Venus's size is indeed similar to that of Earth, its mass is 7.6 times that of Mars, with gravitational attraction to match.
"With Venus Express, we fully intend to demonstrate yet again that studying the planets is of vital importance for life here on Earth," said Jean Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General.
"To understand climate change on Earth and all the contributing factors, we cannot make do with solely observing our own planet. We need to decipher the mechanics of the planetary atmosphere in general terms. With Mars Express, we are studying the Martian atmosphere. With Huygens, we have explored that of Saturn's satellite Titan.
"And now with Venus Express, we are going to add a further specimen to our collection. Originally, Venus and the Earth must have been very similar planets. So we really do need to understand why and how they eventually diverged to the point that one became a cradle for life while the other developed into a hostile environment."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Click here for more. -Ed.
And here, as well. -Ed.
