Philosophy
NASA, Russia, and China aren't the only ones doing space exploration...Japan is quietly doing their part and in 75 days [May 18th] they will launch "AKATSUKI" comprised of several projects including a trip to Venus [PLANET-C Venus Climate Orbiter].
The Venus Climate Orbiter mission (PLANET-C), one of the future planetary missions of Japan, aims at understanding the atmospheric circulation of Venus. Meteorological information will be obtained by globally mapping clouds and minor constituents successively with 4 cameras at ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, detecting lightning with a high-speed imager, and observing the vertical structure of the atmosphere with radio science technique. The equatorial elongated orbit with westward revolution fits the observations of the movement and temporal variation of the Venusian atmosphere which rotates westward. The systematic, continuous imaging observations will provide us with an unprecedented large dataset of the Venusian atmospheric dynamics. Additional targets of the mission are the exploration of the ground surface and the observation of zodiacal light. The mission will complement the ESA's Venus Express, which also explores the Venusian environment with different approaches.
Promotional Movie
- Venus Express Is Doomed
"Venus Express Prepares For a Destructive Mission End" by Keith Cowing May 16th, 2014 SPACE REF After eight years in orbit, ESA's Venus Express has completed routine science observations and is preparing for a daring plunge into the planet's...
- Indian Space Missions...up, Up, And Away--a Good Thing
"Mythbusting India's Mars Mission" by Morris Jones November 6th, 2013 SpaceDaily The successful launch of India's Mars Orbiter Mission is a major step forward for an advancing Asian space power. The global space community has applauded the flight,...
- Orrery Planetarium
Specialized...transit of Venus. The phrase 'transit of Venus' refers to the passage of the planet Venus across the face of the sun, as seen from Earth. Such transits occur in pairs eight years apart, with an interval of over 100 years between...
- Mercury
Despite the world's bad news recently, here is some good news from NASA. Finally! NASA Prepares to Orbit Mercury "Messenger spacecraft poised for insertion into Mercury orbit" Mission managers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab...
- Venus...an Active Body
Venus is not always in the limelight much being over shadowed by Mars, Saturn, Jupiter even Mercury and soon to be Pluto but Venus is offering many surprises. NASA... For the first time, scientists have detected clear signs of recent lava flows on the...
Philosophy
PLANET-C Venus Climate Orbiter
NASA, Russia, and China aren't the only ones doing space exploration...Japan is quietly doing their part and in 75 days [May 18th] they will launch "AKATSUKI" comprised of several projects including a trip to Venus [PLANET-C Venus Climate Orbiter].
The Venus Climate Orbiter mission (PLANET-C), one of the future planetary missions of Japan, aims at understanding the atmospheric circulation of Venus. Meteorological information will be obtained by globally mapping clouds and minor constituents successively with 4 cameras at ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, detecting lightning with a high-speed imager, and observing the vertical structure of the atmosphere with radio science technique. The equatorial elongated orbit with westward revolution fits the observations of the movement and temporal variation of the Venusian atmosphere which rotates westward. The systematic, continuous imaging observations will provide us with an unprecedented large dataset of the Venusian atmospheric dynamics. Additional targets of the mission are the exploration of the ground surface and the observation of zodiacal light. The mission will complement the ESA's Venus Express, which also explores the Venusian environment with different approaches.
Promotional Movie
- Venus Express Is Doomed
"Venus Express Prepares For a Destructive Mission End" by Keith Cowing May 16th, 2014 SPACE REF After eight years in orbit, ESA's Venus Express has completed routine science observations and is preparing for a daring plunge into the planet's...
- Indian Space Missions...up, Up, And Away--a Good Thing
"Mythbusting India's Mars Mission" by Morris Jones November 6th, 2013 SpaceDaily The successful launch of India's Mars Orbiter Mission is a major step forward for an advancing Asian space power. The global space community has applauded the flight,...
- Orrery Planetarium
Specialized...transit of Venus. The phrase 'transit of Venus' refers to the passage of the planet Venus across the face of the sun, as seen from Earth. Such transits occur in pairs eight years apart, with an interval of over 100 years between...
- Mercury
Despite the world's bad news recently, here is some good news from NASA. Finally! NASA Prepares to Orbit Mercury "Messenger spacecraft poised for insertion into Mercury orbit" Mission managers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab...
- Venus...an Active Body
Venus is not always in the limelight much being over shadowed by Mars, Saturn, Jupiter even Mercury and soon to be Pluto but Venus is offering many surprises. NASA... For the first time, scientists have detected clear signs of recent lava flows on the...