Venus Express ends mission
Posted: Wed, Dec 24, 2014, 11:24 AM ET (1624 GMT)
The European Space Agency has declared its Venus Express mission at an end when the orbiting spacecraft ran out of propellant, the agency recently announced. Venus Express was raising its orbit in late November when controllers lost contract with the spacecraft. Efforts to restore communications were only partially successful. Project officials suspect that the spacecraft ran out of propellant during the orbit raising effort, which came after a series of aerobraking tests where the spacecraft flew through the upper atmosphere. ESA considered the mission, which had been in orbit around Venus since 2006, a great success.
The European Space Agency has declared its Venus Express mission at an end when the orbiting spacecraft ran out of propellant, the agency recently announced. Venus Express was raising its orbit in late November when controllers lost contract with the spacecraft. Efforts to restore communications were only partially successful. Project officials suspect that the spacecraft ran out of propellant during the orbit raising effort, which came after a series of aerobraking tests where the spacecraft flew through the upper atmosphere. ESA considered the mission, which had been in orbit around Venus since 2006, a great success.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, April 28
United Launch Alliance back to try 1st launch of year with Amazon satellites
Orlando Sentinel — 6:31 am ET (1031 GMT) SpaceX pushes back Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg SFB
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 6:29 am ET (1029 GMT) Firefly, SpaceX Delay Launches at Vandenberg, Now Aiming for Monday
Noozhawk — 6:29 am ET (1029 GMT) Satellite Internet Era Arrives: SpaceX and OneWeb Set for South Korea Launch
Korea Bizwire — 6:29 am ET (1029 GMT) SpaceX launches batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit
UPI — 6:28 am ET (1028 GMT) |
