[FPSPACE] FW: ESA: Second Anniversary for Venus Express

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: "AAS Press Officer Dr. Steve Maran" <Steve.Maran at aas.org>
>To: "AAS Press Officer Dr. Steve Maran" <steve.maran at aas.org>
>Subject: ESA:  Second Anniversary for Venus Express
>Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 10:45:40 -0500
>

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ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY).  Steve Maran, American Astronomical Society  
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Contact information at the end of the release

Article and images can be found at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM57353R8F_index_0.html

9 November 2007

Lifting the Venusian veil, two years since launch

Venus Express, launched two years ago today, has been adding much to our 
knowledge of Earth's twin. The satellite has recently peeked through the 
planet's thick veil of clouds and sent new images of its surface.

Venus' surface is a scorching 735 K, or 462 deg C, and emits a lot of 
infrared radiation. All of this radiation is scattered numerous times by its 
thick 25 km-layer of clouds before it escapes into space. This gives Venus a 
weak glow, but also makes it hard for an orbiting satellite to get a true 
picture of the planet's countenance.

Despite the thick haze, infrared light, invisible to the naked eye, can 
escape at certain wavelengths through spectral windows. ESA's Venus Express 
carries the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC), which has used one of the 
spectral windows to see through the haze and map the surface of our 
neighbour on its night side.

Unveiling Venus

The areas mapped with the VMC cover the Beta and Phoebe Regios in the mid- 
to equatorial latitudes visited in the 1970s by several Soviet Venera and US 
Pioneer Venus landers. The pictures reveal highlands and mountains of 
elevation up to 5 km above the Venusian 'sea level'. Even when looking 
through the infrared window, observing Venus' surface from orbit is similar 
to looking though a frosted window, when one can only see the silhouette of 
an object.

The mapped area includes some of the most typical geological units on Venus. 
Beta Regio and Phoebe Regio represent tesserae -some of the oldest terrain 
on the planet. In 1990, the radar on board the US spacecraft Magellan 
detected anomalously high reflectivity of the tops of Rhea Mons and Theia 
Mons. This indicates the presence of still unknown conductive, 
semiconductive, ferroelectric or ferromagnetic materials.

The images are being used to study the variation of mineralogical 
composition on Venus and are being correlated with the topography and radar 
reflectivity of the surface. They are also being used to search for ongoing 
volcanic activity.

Happy birthday Venus Express!

For more information:

Hakan Svedhem, ESA Venus Express Project Scientist
Email: Hakan.Svedhem at esa.int

ESA PIO source:
Monica Talevi
Science Information Manager
ESA - Communication Dept.
Tel: +31 71 565 3223
Fax: +31 71 565 4101
Email: Monica.Talevi at esa.int

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