Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.6001s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #60.01
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Venus Express has been very productive since its arrival at Venus in April 2006. The atmosphere of the southern hemisphere of the planet has been studied in detail by three instruments dedicated to atmospheric investigations, from near IR to UV and additional information has been derived from radio science measurements. The induced magnetosphere and escape of planetary matter have been characterized by a magnetometer and an energetic particle instrument. A large amount of data has been collected and results include maps of wind speeds at different altitudes, movies of the dynamics of the southern polar vortex, a surface temperature map of the southern hemisphere, profiles of atmospheric density and temperature from 40km to 140km altitude at various latitudes and solar times, information of cloud structure and waves at the top of the cloud deck and escape rates of hydrogen, oxygen and helium. In October this year a decision to extend the mission until end 2012 is expected. Future plans include a reduction of the pericentre altitude to allow atmospheric drag measurements, both by spacecraft tracking and by on-board accelerometers. The orbit may be modified for a lower apocentre altitude and a shorter period by aerobraking early 2012. Joint operations are planned with the Japanese VCO spacecraft in 2011. This talk will summarize the major results to date, report the present status of the mission and outline the future activities.
Svedhem Håkan
Titov Dimitry
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