All eyes on Venus: 2 spacecraft gear up for close Venus flybys this week | Space

 

BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter will fly by Venus on Monday (Aug. 9) and Tuesday (Aug. 10), respectively.

Venus is about to get double the extra attention. NASA’s Solar Orbiter, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), will hone in on Venus on Aug. 9, but it won’t be alone for long. Another ESA spacecraft, BepiColombo (a partnership with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA) will fly by the planet just one day later.

The spacecraft are both headed toward the inner solar system. Solar Orbiter launched in 2020 with a mission to study the sun, while BepiColombo launched in 2018 and has been en route to Mercury ever since.

On Monday (Aug. 9) Solar Orbiter will approach Venus at a distance of about 4,967 miles (7,995 kilometers). Then on Tuesday (Aug. 10) BepiColombo will approach the planet at about 342 miles (550 km).

Related: Watch Venus glide by in this serene video from the BepiColombo spacecraft’s flyby

Source: All eyes on Venus: 2 spacecraft gear up for close Venus flybys this week | Space

Venus, once billed as Earth’s twin, is a hothouse (and a tantalizing target in the search for life) | Space

Our view of Venus has evolved from a dinosaur-rich swamp world to a planet where life may hide in the clouds.

As Earth’s sister planet, Venus has endured a love-hate relationship when it comes to exploration. Now, new results suggest the presence of a signal of potential habitability on Venus, and the long-forgotten sibling may find itself back in the spotlight.

With its orbit near the rising or setting sun, Venus shone clearly to the first ancient astronomers. As humanity began to explore the solar system, a world with nearly the same mass and radius as Earth seemed like the most promising target. Venus sits on the border of our sun’s habitable zone, the region around a star where a planet should be able to host liquid water on its surface, and ideas of a veritable twin planet swam before the eyes of scientists and the public alike.

Related: Venus clouds join shortlist of places to search for alien life
More: The greatest mysteries of Venus

Source: Venus, once billed as Earth’s twin, is a hothouse (and a tantalizing target in the search for life) | Space

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