Posted on © 2024 by Linda Moulton Howe

Hot Venus Now Studied by ESA’s Venus Express

The CO2 and sulfuric acid atmosphere of Venus is 90 times denser at the surface than Earth's and that greenhouse gas blanket retains almost all of the heat Venus receives from the sun, making the planet's surface temperature 480 ° C (896 °F). Image by ESA.
The CO2 and sulfuric acid atmosphere of Venus is 90 times denser at the surface than Earth's and that greenhouse gas blanket retains almost all of the heat Venus receives from the sun, making the planet's surface temperature 480 ° C (896 °F). Image by ESA.
Artist's illustration of Venus Express firing its rocket engine to slow down into orbit around the hot planet on April 11, 2006. Image by ESA.
Artist's illustration of Venus Express firing its rocket engine to slow down into orbit around the hot planet on April 11, 2006. Image by ESA.

April 11, 2006  Darmstadt, Germany  -  The European Space Agency (ESA) reported this morning that "at the end of a 153-day and 400-million km cruise into the inner Solar System beginning with its launch on 9 November 2005, ESA’s Venus Express space probe fired its main engine at 09:17 CEST for a 50-minute burn, which brought it into orbit around Venus. With this firing, the probe reduced its relative velocity toward the planet from 29,000 to about 25,000 km/h and was captured by its gravity field. This orbit insertion maneuver was a complete success.

 

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