Space exploration with the Portuguese “seal” will pass inside Venus

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced on August 2 that European space exploration will take place near Venus on August 9 and 10, along with the Solar Orbiter and BabyColombo, Portuguese technology and science.

The path through Venus is a maneuver necessary for both studies to reach their goal.

Launched in February 2020, the Solar Orbiter is a spacecraft to view the sun, in partnership with the ESA and its US counterpart NASA.

BepiColombo, to be precise, was made up of two probes sent into space in October 2018 in a joint venture between the ESA and the Japanese counterpart Jaxa, aimed at exploring Wednesday.

According to the ESA, passing through Venus “offers an unprecedented opportunity to simultaneously study the environment of Venus from different locations, in addition to places not normally visited by a planetary orbit.”

The closest approach to the Solar Orbiter, designed to create the first images of the Sun’s poles, is at 9,552 km (August 9, 05:42 (Lisbon time) to Venus, while the maximum approach of BabyColombo is at 14: 48 August 10, 550 km.

High-resolution images of Venus could not be obtained, and only two of the two or three cameras in the BabyColombo area were photographed in black and white. The first film is expected to be available on August 10th and most will be available the next day.

According to the ESA, this weekend the solar orbiter may have a chance to observe the night time side of Venus.

The European Space Agency hopes that the information passed over the Sun’s orbit and Pepicolombo Venus will provide useful information for the Envision exploration mission that will begin in 2030 to explore the planet’s atmosphere.

Earlier this year, the BepiColombo module, which will carry two probes, will be 200 km high in six approaches on Wednesday.

Two probes will be placed in the planet’s orbit by the end of 2025 for its magnetic field and its outer sphere (outer layer of the atmosphere).

Astronomer Jonah S. Oliveira is part of the scientific team for ESA’s BepiColombo mission, and Efacec has developed electronic equipment that monitors space radiation during the voyage and operation of a module study.

On November 27, the Solar Orbiter will make the final approach to Earth at an altitude of 460 km. After that, to gradually increase the inclination of its path to better observe the polar regions of the Sun, it will essentially cross Venus to understand the rotation of the Sun’s activity.

Portuguese companies such as Critical Software, Active Space Technologies and Timos Engenharia were involved in many aspects of solar research.

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