On this day in space! Nov. 8, 2005: Europe launches Venus Express, its first mission to Venus
8, 2005, Europe launched its first mission to Venus.
Key points
- (Image credit: NASA) Why it mattered As the first successful Mars mission since the two Viking launches in 1975, Mars Global Surveyor ushered in a new era of exploration of the Red Planet, not only through its own contributions to orbit-based science, but by serving a relay for surface-based rovers.
- "Orbital studies [like Venus Express] hint that Venus may have hosted habitable oceans before becoming inhospitable." "By studying Venus, we can learn how Earth-like planets evolve and what shapes planets throughout the galaxy into temperate, lush worlds instead of sweltering hothouses.
- (Image credit: ESA) Why it mattered Venus Express established ESA as the third world organization to successfully send a probe to study Venus, following the United States and Soviet Union.
A Russian Soyuz rocket launches the Venus Express spacecraft to Venus on Nov.
Late in the Venus Express mission, controllers told the spacecraft to dip down into Venus's clouds — even though the spacecraft wasn't designed to do this.
Additional details
- (Image credit: ESA) ESA returned to Venus in 2018 when BepiColombo, its joint mission with JAXA, used the planet's gravity to redirect its path toward the planet Mercury.
- (Japan's JAXA became the fourth five years later.) "By studying Venus, scientists learn how Earth-like planets change over time," reads a summary of the planet's exploration prepared by The Planetary Society.
- Check out our full On This Day In Space Story archive and watch our On This Day In Space videos on YouTube.
- During that time, Venus Express saw a weird vortex swirling around Venus's south pole.
- Venus also helps scientists model Earth’s climate, and may serve as a cautionary tale on how dramatically a planet’s climate can change," wrote the Society.
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