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| | | | | | | Europe scores new planetary success: Venus Express enters orbit around the Hothouse Planet
11 April 2006
| Artist's impression of the Venus Express orbit insertion on 11 April 2006. In this phase of the mission, the most challenging since launch, the spacecraft's main engine burns for about 50 minutes, to reduce its speed with respect to Venus to allow the the spacecraft to be captured by the planet's gravitation.
Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab | |  |  | |
| | | | Enigmatic atmosphere
| This artist's impression shows Venus Express focussing on studying the peculiar atmosphere of Venus, with a precision never achieved before. In doing so, the mission is making the first ever use of the so called 'infrared windows' present in Venus' atmosphere; they are narrow bands in the atmospheric spectrum, discovered in the 1980s thanks to ground observations. Looking through these 'windows' Venus Express is able to gather precious information about the lower layers of the atmosphere and even the surface.
Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab | | | | |
| | | | Europe explores the Solar System
| | | | State-of-the-art science package
| This image is an artistic interpretation of a possible volcano on Venus. In fact, from previous missions to the planet, Venus appears to be among the most geologically active planets in the solar system. Venus Express is able to detect gaseous markers in the lower layers of the atmosphere and variations in its temperature, possible signs of volcanic activity. Local variations in atmospheric temperature and pressure may also indicate the presence of seismic activity.
Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab | | | | |
| | | | | As shown in this artist's impression, Venus is a planet with no intrinsic magnetic field and so, differently from Earth, it has no shield to protect it from the continuous attack of the capricious and violent solar wind. ESA's Venus Express will study how much of the atmosphere of the planet escaped under the bombardment of the solar wind and how much it combined with the surface material.
Credits: ESA - C. Carreau | | | | |
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| | Feature  ESA astronaut C. Nicollier on voyaging to Venus VOI highlights and press conference ESApod: Venus Express VOI updates Venus Express’ initial orbit matches expectationsVenus Express 'talks' to EarthVenus Express main engine burn endedVenus Express reappears from behind VenusPre-planned thrill - Venus Express disappears behind VenusVenus Express main engine burn startsVenus Express slews and prepares to ‘brake’Venus Orbit Insertion timeline Looking at Venus ESA’s Venus Express to reach final destinationRelated articles Venus within ESA probe reachAnd now… straight to Venus!Successful Venus Express main engine testFirst light for the Venus Monitoring CameraVenus Express performs flawlessly, LEOP completeVenus Express mission operations updateVenus Express en route to probe the planet's hidden mysteriesRelated links Venus Express operationsWebcam from ESOC
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