Venus Express – Exploring Earth’s Nearest Planetary Neighbour
- Paper number
IAC-06-H.L.2.01
- Author
Dr. Gerhard Schwehm, European Space Agency (ESA)/ESTEC, The Netherlands
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Venus Express is ESA’s first mission to our closest planetary neighbour, Venus. It was launched successfully on a Soyuz-Fregat from Baikonur on 11 November 2005. In orbit check-out of both the spacecraft and payload was carried out successfully and on 11 April 2006 the spacecraft was inserted into its Venus orbit. The nominal science phase will start in June 2006. The mission was selected in 2001 in a competitive process, where ESA had asked for mission ideas reusing the Mars Express design and the same industrial consortium that had built the spacecraft in order to have a mission ready for flight in 2005 within very tight budget constraints. Especially attractive has been the reuse of many of the spare instruments that had been developed for ESA’s Mars Express and Rosetta missions without compromising the mission’s scientific objectives: a comprehensive study of the atmosphere of the planet, the plasma environment and its interaction with the solar wind, and dedicated studies of the surface. Seven prime scientific ‘Themes’ were identified: Atmospheric Dynamics, Atmospheric Structure, Atmospheric Composition and Chemistry, Cloud Layer and Hazes, Radiative Balance, Surface Properties and Geology, Plasma Environment, and Escape Processes. After a long wait Venus Express will bring Venus science back into focus and we will hear the first results from this exciting mission.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-06-H.L.2.01.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.