Unveiling Venus secrets - Venus Express has reached sister planet

Description: Unveiling Venus' secrets - Venus Express has reached Earth's sister planetResearch Field: Astronomy/AstrophysicsAfter successful insertion into Venus orbit Venus Express will explore the unusual stormy atmosphere and runaway global warming on Venus in the hope of better understanding Earth's greenhouse-gas problem.Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is similar in size, mass and age to Earth but has a vastly different and ferociously hot weather system. Also known as the Evening Star, thanks to the bright light it reflects from the Sun, the planet is blanketed by thick clouds of suffocating gas driven by often hurricane-force winds and a surface pressure and temperature high enough to crush and melt lead.Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, successfully proposed the mission and are now involved in two out of seven experiments on board: The Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC), which will deliver images of Venus, was developed and built at the institute. Furthermore the institute took part in the development of the ASPERA-4 instrument, which will analyse the interaction of the solar wind with Venus’ atmosphere.Copyright: © Deutsche WellePublished at ScienceStage.com in cooperation with the Max Planck Society.Involved Institutes: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research