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Fast track to Venus
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Venus Express will study our nearest planetary neighbour. The spacecraft will be built to the same design
as Mars Express, making it quicker and cheaper to develop. In particular, it will study the Venusian atmosphere
and clouds in detail and make global maps of the surface temperatures.
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Characteristics
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| Launch Date |
October 2005 |
| Launcher |
Soyuz-Fregat |
| Launch Site |
Baikonur, Kazakhstan |
| Journey Duration |
158 days to Venus |
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What's special?
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Venus is the Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour. It comes twice as close
to our planet as Mars ever does. In terms of size and mass, Venus is Earth’s twin
and yet it has evolved in a radically different manner, with a surface temperature hotter
than a kitchen oven and a choking mixture of noxious gases for an atmosphere.
Venus Express will make unique studies of this atmosphere.
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 In the past, both the Russians and Americans have sent spacecraft to Venus. As the closest planet
to the Earth, it was a natural target. These studies revealed details about the surface of the
planet, mainly from NASA's Magellan radar mapper. However, Venus has been out of the limelight
during the last decade, despite several scientific puzzles remaining. For example, what are the
characteristics of the atmosphere? How does it circulate? How does the composition of the
atmosphere change with depth? How does the atmosphere interact with the surface? How does
the upper atmosphere interact with the solar wind? Experts have designed Venus Express to be
the first spaceprobe to perform a global investigation of the Venusian atmosphere and of the
plasma environment, in an attempt to answer these questions.
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Science Missions Objectives
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Venusian weather cannot be explained simply by comparing to the Earth’s. Scientists are unable to
explain some of the more extreme atmospheric phenomena that take place on Venus. For example, the
planet only rotates once every 243 Earth days. However, in the upper atmosphere, hurricane-force
winds sweep around Venus, taking just four Earth days to circumnavigate the planet!
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| ©Copyright 2004 LSE Space Engineering & Operations AG |
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