Venus Express - ESA orbiter

SpaceNut · 2004-09-30 11:34:14

Venus Express is the agency's first mission to the cloud enshrouded planet. If everything goes well, Venus Express will lift off on board a Soyuz-Fregat rocket to travel through space for 153 days after launch this oct 25th.

Venus Express will make the first multispectral global examination of the atmosphere of Venus.

This will answer some of the possible teraforming of venus questions and may even point to life signs as well.

Interesting how it got the name from reusing the mars express design.

http://www.universetoday.com/am....3092004

Palomar · 2004-09-30 12:18:03

Venus Express is the agency's first mission to the cloud enshrouded planet. If everything goes well, Venus Express will lift off on board a Soyuz-Fregat rocket to travel through space for 153 days after launch this oct 25th.
Venus Express will make the first multispectral global examination of the atmosphere of Venus.
This will answer some of the possible teraforming of venus questions and may even point to life signs as well.
Interesting how it got the name from reusing the mars express design.

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … ...3092004

*Aw, you beat me to it! :laugh:

There's a discrepancy in this article relative to launch date. 26 or 25 October 2005.

153 day trip! :up: Go ESA!!! Good luck!!

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-10-01 12:43:08

ESA presses on with relations with Russia. ESA’s Permanent Mission to Russia was established nine years ago through an agreement, signed on 10 April 1995, between the European Space Agency and the Government of the Russian Federation. The mission, which is located in Moscow, has diplomatic status and is registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

ESA’s Permanent Mission in Russia
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMC3NMKPZD_index_0.html

A new site launched today showcases the activities of ESA’s Permanent Mission in Russia. To learn more about it, visit www.esa.int/emo.

Palomar · 2004-10-10 08:07:19

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htm … 253]Latest images of Venus Express

*Selection of images from the testing phase, when it was in "open" configuration. Now the panels are closed and they're preparing to transport it to Intespace in Toulouse. Looks like everything is proceedly smoothly. Still a year's wait to launch, though.

--Cindy

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-11-13 21:14:58

going to Venus is a very good idea, I think its time we got more info on the planet :band:

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-01-19 12:54:13

it look like this could be a good mission indeed
http://sci.esa.int/science-e-media/img/ … eyaOgq.jpg
During the approximately 150 day flight to Venus, the spacecraft will make small adjustments to the trajectory using its thrusters. On arrival at Venus, the spacecraft will use its main engine to slow down so that it can be captured by Venus's gravity.

The launcher will place the spacecraft into a transfer orbit to Venus. It will travel through space for 153 days and once it is captured by Venusian gravity, it will take five days to manoeuvre into its operational orbit

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-02-27 03:05:41

USAToday had a quick mention of the craft the other day

'the first orbiter of our closest planetary neighbor in more than a decade.'

http://sci.esa.int/science-e-media/img/ … ...een.JPG
installation of the High Gain Antenna 1 during final prepartions

Venus Express will study the Venusian atmosphere and clouds in unprecedented detail and accuracy.

Instruments and Measurements

VMC
objective Ultraviolet and visible imaging
heritage
Mars Express (HRSC/SRC) and Rosetta (OSIRIS)
The VMC camera consists of one unit that houses the optics, CCD and readout electronics (CRE), digital processing unit (DPU), and power converter (POC). The camera has four separate objective lens systems....
MAG
Objective
Magnetic field measurements
Heritage
Rosetta Lander (ROMAP)
MAG, the magnetometer instrument, is designed to make measurements of magnetic field strength and direction.

VeRa
objective Radio sounding of atmosphere
heritage Rosetta (RSI)
The Venus Radio Science experiment (VeRa) will perform the following experiments:
Radio sounding of the neutral Venus atmosphere (occultation experiment) to derive vertical density, pressure and temperature profiles as a function of height, with a height resolution better than 100 metres
Radio sounding of the ionosphere of Venus (occultation experiment) to derive vertical ionospheric electron density profiles and to derive a description of the global behaviour of the ionosphere through its diurnal and seasonal variations and its dependence on solar wind conditions
Determination of the dielectric and scattering properties of the surface of Venus in specific target areas using a bistatic radar experiment
Radio sounding of the solar corona during the inferior and superior conjunctions of Venus
The radio links of the spacecraft communications system will be used for these investigations. A simultaneous and coherent dual-frequency downlink at X-band and S-band via the High Gain Antenna is required to separate the effects of the classical Doppler shift due to the motion of the spacecraft relative to the Earth and the effects caused by the propagation of the signals through the various dispersive media in the signal path.

PFS
objective . Atmospheric vertical sounding by infrared Fourier spectroscopy
heritage Mars Express (PFS)
The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) is an infrared spectrometer optimised for atmospheric studies and covering the wavelength range 0.9 to 45 microns in two channels with a boundary at 5 microns. The spectral resolution of the instrument is better than 2 cm-1 . The instrument field of view FOV is about 1.6 degrees FWHM for the Short Wavelength (SW) channel and 2.8 degrees for the Long Wavelength (LW) channel. These fields of view correspond to a spatial resolution of seven kilometres for the SW channel and 13 kilometres for the LW channel when Venus is observed from a height of 250 kilometres (nominal height of the pericentre).
PFS is equipped with a pointing device, which enables it to receive incoming radiation from the surface of Venus or to perform calibration measurements by pointing to a reference black body of known temperature or to deep space.

ASPERA-4 .
objective
Neutral and ionised plasma analysis
Heritage
Mars Express (ASPERA-3)
VIRTIS
Objective
Spectrographic mapping of atmosphere and surface
Heritage
Rosetta (VIRTIS)
VIRTIS is an imaging spectrometer that combines three observing channels in one instrument. Two of the channels are devoted to spectral mapping (mapper optical subsystem), while the third channel is devoted to spectroscopy (high resolution optical subsystem)....

SPICAV
objective
Atmospheric spectrometry by star or Sun occultation
heritage Mars Express (SPICAM)

http://pfsweb.ifsi.rm.cnr.it/Venus.html … Venus.html
http://www.linmpi.mpg.de/english/projek … press/vmc/
http://www.rm.iasf.cnr.it/ias-home/Venu … xpress.htm
http://www.iwf.oeaw.ac.at/english/resea … ..._e.html

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-06-25 08:09:14

Will Europe put a lander on venus ?

Venus has been targeted because it resembles the Earth in many ways, yet the most basic questions about the evolution of the planet and its atmosphere are still a mystery.

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=37072
The main objective of the Venus Entry Probe TRS is to study the Venusian atmosphere.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=35987

SpaceNut · 2005-07-07 07:43:22

Well it is hard to believe that the [url=http://www.space.eads.net/web1/press/press_release.asp?id_tree=489&id_tree_nav=394&tree_name=EADS_SPACE_WEB_PAGES&langue=en]
Venus express, is ready to study Venusian atmosphere, well almost.[/url]
It will be the first European space probe to investigate the planet Venus and is being readied for the october launch in 2005.

Palomar · 2005-07-07 08:04:54

Well it is hard to believe that the http://www.space.eads.net/web1/press/pr … langue=en]
Venus express, is ready to study Venusian atmosphere, well almost.
It will be the first European space probe to investigate the planet Venus and is being readied for the october launch in 2005.

*I wonder why U.S. space news sites don't carry much info about Venus Express? I check over a half dozen sites regularly. Yeah, I know this is ESA's baby...but still. :-\

Will orbit Venus for 500 Earth days, possess 7 scientific instruments. Interesting about the solar panels:

Specific solar panels for the mission
As the Venus mission requires guiding the spacecraft towards the sun the layout of the solar generators has to be very special. The design is necessary for the solar arrays to withstand the high temperature loads encountered during its mission. After Mercury, Venus is the Sun's nearest planet and consequently solar radiation is considerably higher than on Earth. Additionally, the solar arrays will be exposed to the sunlight reflection from the Venusian atmosphere, the so-called albedo. The solar arrays have been designed and qualified for operating temperatures between -167°C and +158°C. It delivers a power of 821 watts in the Earth's orbit and 1,468 watts in the Venusian orbit at the end of its four-year mission. Shortly after launch, Venus Express will unfold its solar arrays which will remain deployed during the whole mission.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2005-07-07 08:44:36

Well I think it boils down to if Nasa does not provide any instrumentation for the probe, then there are no American news release at least to or with regards from Nasa for these probes.

I wonder if American companies are doing any business for the ESA in general?

If they were then I would expect news release for those items would be on there web sites.

By re-using both Mars Express spacecraft design and the available instruments from the Mars Express and Rosetta programs, Venus Express meets the triple challenge of achieving its scientific objectives, cost efficiency and its unparalleled development schedule.

Would need to research these others for the instruments, but I do not think any other nations were involved with either mission and then again will need to google if I have time to answer that question.

Palomar · 2005-07-07 09:08:31

Well I think it boils down to if Nasa does not provide any instrumentation for the probe, then there are no American news release at least to or with regards from Nasa for these probes.
I wonder if American companies are doing any business for the ESA in general?
If they were then I would expect news release for those items would be on there web sites.

*The web sites I'm referring to often do have information about ESA, space plans for China and Japan, etc.; they're not NASA-centric.

Which is primarily why I question the lack of coverage for Venus Express at otherwise popular and well-informed space sites.

::shrugs::

--Cindy

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-08-03 18:02:12

ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has just completed its last phase of testing in Europe and is ready to be shipped to its launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … tml?382005

Now Venus Express is in its container, which will be closed this week and moved by truck to Toulouse-Blagnac airport for its trip to Baikonur. Venus Express will fly via Moscow on board an Antonov 124 commercial cargo plane, arriving at its launch site on Sunday 7 August.

Palomar · 2005-08-05 05:01:25

*Hi YL Rocket. I'm reading an article from spaceref.com. Only 4 years from conception of the mission to launch. Best of luck to ESA (and please keep us in the know like you've done with Mars Express!).

Some highlights:

The mission will provide the most comprehensive study ever of the Venusian atmosphere. It will dig into mysteries such as the unexplained fast atmospheric rotation in four days around the planet and the polar vortices.

Funky.

More special preparations:

Differently from Mars Express, instead of one high-gain antenna, Venus Express has two - pointed in opposite directions. In fact, as seen from Venus, Earth is an outer planet and it can be in any direction relative to the Sun. Two antennas will allow the spacecraft to communicate with Earth in any configuration, always having the side hosting delicate instruments away from the Sun.

--Cindy

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-09-12 23:17:11

some more info on the craft & mission

http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunic … 7807&src=0
http://www.venus2004.org/comprendre/d/dossier566-1.php

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-09-14 08:00:37

strange how NASA has constantly neglected exploration Venus except for one or 2 missions

although I can't complain now that NASA is going to Mercury with Messenger

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-09-28 11:30:06

The European Space Agency is set to launch a spacecraft to Venus. It will be the first mission to the swelteringly hot and corrosive planet in 15 years. Called Venus Express, it is scheduled to lift off aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 26 October. When it arrives at Venus in April 2006, it will study the planet from a polar orbit stretching from an altitude of 250 to 60,000 kilometres. Seven instruments will scrutinise the planet at a range of wavelengths. Astronomers hope to understand how a planet that has more in common with Earth than any other in terms of distance from the Sun, size and mass could have evolved into such an inhospitable world.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8066
ESA’s new deep space radio antenna in Cebreros (Ávila, Spain) will be officially inaugurated on 28 September. The new 35-metre antenna is ESA’s second facility devoted to communications with spacecraft on interplanetary missions or placed in very distant orbits. Cebreros’ first task will be that of tracking ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft, due for launch in October.
http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunic … 9151&src=0
New Deep Space Antenna Comes Online
Cebreros’ first task will be that of tracking ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft,
http://www.rednova.com/news/space/24056 … es_online/

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-10-06 04:16:39

Venus Express propellant loading completed
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_E...A1A5Y3EE_0.html
4 October 2005

The European Space Agency is set to launch a spacecraft to Venus. It will be the first mission to the swelteringly hot and corrosive planet in 15 years.

Called Venus Express, it is scheduled to lift off aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 26 October. When it arrives at Venus in April 2006, it will study the planet from a polar orbit stretching from an altitude of 250 to 60,000 kilometres.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns? … news_rss20

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-10-06 04:17:30

another story

Venus Express
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=34067

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-10-06 21:27:37

ESA: How do you feel as Venus Express gets so close to its launch date?

Håkan:I feel very excited that we are now getting to the point that we all have worked so hard for during the last years. I have always found launches to be exciting moments, but a launch where my colleagues and I have been involved so much in building the payload is of course something special.

At the same time I feel confident since I know that everybody involved has done a very good job and that all possible tests have been done to make sure everything is just as it should be. The Soyuz rocket we are using has a very good record so I am very hopeful that it will work out well.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Expre … 3EE_0.html

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-10-06 21:28:58

5 October 2005
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Expre … 3EE_0.html
The Venus Express spacecraft is now sitting on its Launch Vehicle Adaptor (LVA), ready for the ‘mating’ with the Fregat upper-stage rocket, and only weeks away from launch on 26 October 2005.

Palomar · 2005-10-14 05:51:08

VE meets its upper stage

*Launch still slated for October 26, yay.

The activity was classified as 'hazardous' since both the spacecraft and the Fregat upper-stage are already fully loaded with highly flammable and toxic propellant. Venus Express carries around 570 kilograms and Fregat about 5000 kilograms of propellant.

Yipes.

Good luck with the launch, smooth sailing hopefully!

--Cindy

::EDIT::

Next activities include the connection of the umbilical cables between Fregat and the LVA, through which the Venus Express spacecraft is powered and commanded while still on the ground. This will be followed by a short spacecraft switch-on and functional test to provide a very basic validation of the spacecraft's on-board hardware.

SpaceNut · 2005-10-19 09:21:50

Some previous history of exploration article:
Spacewatch

Previous probes that have tried to visit are the Soviet Venera 9 probe which parachuted down through the Venusian atmosphere to give us our first views of its rocky surface. Venera 10 followed a few days later barely surviving about one hour before succumbing to the truly hostile conditions.

Venus's diameter is only 652km less than that of the Earth, but it is far from being the Earth's twin. Carbon dioxide dominates in Venus's atmosphere while, at the surface, the pressure is a crushing 90 times that on the Earth and temperatures soar above 460C, making Venus even hotter than Mercury

Missions from the US have been the Magellan orbiter in the early 1990s.

While the ESA's Venus Express orbiter is intended to study the atmosphere and surface in detail after it arrives next April.

Where as the only things we really know about its surface have come from radar studies thus far.

Palomar · 2005-10-24 07:49:02

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/venus-05h.html

*Launch delayed. New launch date to be announced soon.

ESA said in a press release that "contamination" was detected inside the fairing -- the bullet-shaped hood that covers the payload on the top of the rocket -- in final checks at Baikonur.

Actual details not given.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-10-27 05:41:52

*Update on VE:

Venus Express Nearly Ready to Launch
Oct 26, 2005 - Venus Express was all set to launch, but ESA engineers discovered that small particles were contaminating the spacecraft, so the liftoff was pushed back. Engineers removed the spacecraft from its upper stage booster, opened up the fairing, and discovered that insulation material from the fairing had fallen onto the spacecraft. Fortunately, the pieces of material are large enough to see and remove with tweezers and vacuum cleaners. Once removal is complete, the spacecraft and booster will be reassembled and prepped for launch - before its launch window closes on November 24.

Sheesh...what is it with all the insulation material troubles on this and other vehicles/crafts? Don't want to go off topic, though...just a comment.

Hopefully no more delays and it'll be launched pronto.

That quote from an article at Universe Today

--Cindy

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#1 2004-09-30 11:34:14

Re: Venus Express - ESA orbiter

#2 2004-09-30 12:18:03

Re: Venus Express - ESA orbiter

#3 2004-10-01 12:43:08

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#15 2005-09-12 23:17:11

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#17 2005-09-28 11:30:06

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#18 2005-10-06 04:16:39

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#19 2005-10-06 04:17:30

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#22 2005-10-14 05:51:08

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#23 2005-10-19 09:21:50

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#24 2005-10-24 07:49:02

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#25 2005-10-27 05:41:52

Re: Venus Express - ESA orbiter

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