Exploring Venus: The Venus Express Probe Mission

ESA's Venus Express probe, launching after four years of development, will study Venus in detail, focusing on its atmosphere, plasma, environment, and surface. The spacecraft, based on the Mars Express design, will deploy instruments during its cruise to Venus and enter a polar orbit for around 500 days to gather valuable data about our closest planetary neighbor's unique characteristics and mysteries. Controlled from ESA's Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, this mission aims to deepen our understanding of Venus, known as the Evening Star, and its extreme conditions.