Waspie_Dwarf Posted May 16, 2014 #1 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Venus Express gets ready to take the plunge 16 May 2014 After eight years in orbit, ESA’s Venus Express has completed routine science observations and is preparing for a daring plunge into the planet’s hostile atmosphere.Venus Express was launched on a Soyuz–Fregat from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 9 November 2005, and arrived at Venus on 11 April 2006. It has been orbiting Venus in an elliptical 24-hour loop that takes it from a distant 66 000 km over the south pole – affording incredible global views – to an altitude of around 250 km above the surface at the north pole, close to the top of the planet’s atmosphere. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted May 16, 2014 Author #2 Share Posted May 16, 2014 (edited) Venus Express aerobrakingVisualisation of the Venus Express aerobraking manoeuvre, which will see the spacecraft orbiting Venus at an altitude of around 130 km from 18 June to 11 July. In the month before, the altitude will gradually be reduced from around 200 km to 130 km. If the spacecraft survives and fuel permits, the elevation of the orbit will be raised back up to approximately 450 km, allowing operations to continue for a further few months. Eventually, however, the spacecraft will plunge back into the atmosphere and the mission will end. Credit: ESA-C.CarreauSource: ESA - Space in Videos Edited July 10, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf fixed source link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted July 10, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Venus Express: Plunging into the atmosphereAfter eight years in orbit, ESA’s Venus Express has completed routine science observations and is preparing for a daring plunge into the planet’s hostile atmosphere.Venus Express was launched on 9 November 2005, and arrived at Venus on 11 April 2006.It has been orbiting Venus in an elliptical 24-hour loop that takes it from a distant 66 000 km over the south pole – affording incredible global views – to an altitude of around 250 km above the surface at the north pole, close to the top of the planet’s atmosphere.With a suite of seven instruments, the spacecraft has provided a comprehensive study of the ionosphere, atmosphere and surface of Venus.It includes interviews in English with Håkan Svedhem, ESA mission scientist and Patrick Martin, ESA Venus Express mission manager.Credit: ESASource: ESA - Space in Videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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