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11 APR. 2006
publication date
2012
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At 11:12 CEST Venus Express re-established communication with Earth for the first time after the start of the orbit insertion manoeuvres.
After the end of the main engine burn, Venus Express still had to perform a few automatic operations. These included re-orienting the solar panels towards the Sun and one of its high gain antennas (the smaller High Gain Antenna 2) towards Earth.
It is through this antenna that the spacecraft established the first communication link with Earth and started to send back information about its health status. The spacecraft data are sent to ESA’s European Spacecraft Operations Centre (ESOC) via ESA’s Cebreros ground station near Madrid. The data downlink lasts for a few hours.
Information about Venus Express’ actual trajectory will be available from ESOC’s flight dynamics team around 12:30 CEST.
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VOI highlights and press conference
You can follow the Venus Express orbit insertion manoeuvre from this page in a number of different ways - webcam, streaming, podcast and video on demand.
ESApod: Venus Express
Mapping Venus' atmosphere in 3DData from VIRTIS will help create a 3-dimensional map of the planet's atmosphere PodcastListen now | DownloadMysterious haze and heavy water on VenusThe SPICAV-SOIR instrument package ...
Venus Express’ initial orbit matches expectations
At about 13:30 CEST ground controllers at ESA’s European Spacecraft Operations Centre (ESOC) confirmed that the geometry of the initial orbit of Venus Express is matching expectations.
ESOC event images
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Related links
ESA’s Venus Express to reach final destination
ESA INFO 02-2006. It was on 9 November last year that ESA's Venus Express spacecraft lifted off from the desert of Kazakhstan onboard a Soyuz-Fregat rocket. Now, after having travelled 400 million kilometres in only about five months, the spacecraft is about to reach its final destination. The rendezvous is due to take place on 11 April.
Venus within ESA probe reach
PR 12-2006. After its five-month, 400-million-kilometre journey inside our Solar System following its lift-off on 9 November 2005, ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft will finally arrive on 11 April at its destination: planet Venus.
And now… straight to Venus!
Excitement grows around the progress of ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft as the distance to its destination gets shorter, in the week which sees the anniversary of another historical Venus mission.
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