Venus Express enters orbit
Posted: Tue, Apr 11, 2006, 6:24 PM ET (2224 GMT)
Venus Express, ESA's first mission to the planet Venus, entered orbit around the cloud-enshrouded world Tuesday. The spacecraft, launched in November 2005, fired its main engine for 50 minutes started at 3:17 am EDT (0717 GMT), slowing the spacecraft by 4,00 km/h and allowing it to be captured into orbit by Venus. The spacecraft, currently in an elliptical orbit, will perform a series of maneuvers to move into its final polar orbit at an altitude of 66,000 km. Venus Express will spend two Venusian days (486 Earth days) studying the planet's dense atmosphere. Venus Express uses much of the same hardware as ESA's successful Mars Express, although with different instruments and other adaptations to accommodate studies of Venus.
Venus Express, ESA's first mission to the planet Venus, entered orbit around the cloud-enshrouded world Tuesday. The spacecraft, launched in November 2005, fired its main engine for 50 minutes started at 3:17 am EDT (0717 GMT), slowing the spacecraft by 4,00 km/h and allowing it to be captured into orbit by Venus. The spacecraft, currently in an elliptical orbit, will perform a series of maneuvers to move into its final polar orbit at an altitude of 66,000 km. Venus Express will spend two Venusian days (486 Earth days) studying the planet's dense atmosphere. Venus Express uses much of the same hardware as ESA's successful Mars Express, although with different instruments and other adaptations to accommodate studies of Venus.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, March 15
Commercial space technology is shaping the Iran war – the law can’t keep up
Univ. of Waikato — 10:59 pm ET (0259 GMT) The race to mine space is on – but who sets the rules?
Univ. of Waikato — 10:58 pm ET (0258 GMT) ispace Opens New Headquarters “Earth Base” in Tokyo
ispace — 10:57 pm ET (0257 GMT) Charting the cosmos: How Google Cloud is helping the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory map the universe
Google — 10:54 pm ET (0254 GMT) U.S. Space Force achieves key design milestone for Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking Epoch 2 MEO Constellation
US Space Force — 10:53 pm ET (0253 GMT) |
