Russia launches European spacecraft to Venus trajectory
View at RIA Novosti
A Russian Soyuz-FG carrier rocket has launched the European Venus Express probe on a trajectory toward Venus, a Russian Space Agency official said Wednesday.
The rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center at 05:10 GMT and put the spacecraft into orbit around the Earth.
'The Venus Express separated from the booster successfully,' the official said. 'The probe reached the trajectory toward Venus and the European Space Agency (ESA) took over control of the spacecraft.'
The Venus Express is the ESA's first mission to Earth's closest neighbor. A follow-up to the Mars Express mission, the spacecraft operates instruments that are mostly upgrades of the Mars Express platform. After a 153-day journey to Venus, the spacecraft will enter the planet's orbit in April 2006.
A Russian Soyuz-FG carrier rocket has launched the European Venus Express probe on a trajectory toward Venus, a Russian Space Agency official said Wednesday.The rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center at 05:10 GMT and put the spacecraft into orbit around the Earth.
'The Venus Express separated from the booster successfully,' the official said. 'The probe reached the trajectory toward Venus and the European Space Agency (ESA) took over control of the spacecraft.'
The Venus Express is the ESA's first mission to Earth's closest neighbor. A follow-up to the Mars Express mission, the spacecraft operates instruments that are mostly upgrades of the Mars Express platform. After a 153-day journey to Venus, the spacecraft will enter the planet's orbit in April 2006.
Comments
Post a Comment