Finally, the eight-year-old received Mission of Venus Express of the ESA, which lasted well beyond the design. As announced by the European Space Agency, the ship exhausted its fuel in a series of maneuvers to rise to a higher trajectory.
Since his arrival in Venus in 2006, Venus Express was on a 24-hour elliptical orbit, traveling 66.000 km above the South Pole at furthest point and 200 km above the North Pole at closest approach, conducting an in-depth analysis of the planet and its atmosphere. However, after eight years in orbit and running low on fuel, the craft undertook a daring aerobraking "mission" in mid-2014, plunging deeper and deeper into the atmosphere, drawing ever closer to the planet.
Under normal circumstances, the ship would use its engines to ensure that it did not come too close to Venus, risking getting lost in the atmosphere. But this action had exactly the opposite goal: to reduce the altitude and to explore previously uncharted zones in the atmosphere. Also, in the context of this mission, significant experience is gained for future missions, as this method (air braking) can be used to enter the orbit of planets with atmosphere without requiring a large use of fuel.
Between May and June 2014, the lowest point in the orbit of the craft reached 130-135 kilometers. The craft was then raised again, so that on July 26 it was again at a height of 460 kilometers. The mission then continued in a reduced science phase, as the craft began to "sink" again due to gravitys. A new series of maneuvers was decided to regain altitude, given that fuel was still available, with the aim of the mission lasting until 2015.
However, contact with the vessel was lost on 28 November. Since then the telemetry and remote control links have partially recovered, but are very unstable. According to Patrick Martin, mission manager for Venus Express, it appears that the craft ran out of fuel almost halfway through the planned maneuvers, resulting in the loss of control height, due to thrust problems.
Technology-Science naftemporiki.gr
