The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter probe, a cooperation with NASA, will swing around Venus early August 9, using the planet's gravity to help put it on a course to observe the Sun's poles. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter probe, a cooperation with NASA, will swing around Venus early August 9 using the planet's gravity to help put it on a course to observe the Sun's poles. About 33 hours later, the European-Japanese spacecraft BepiColombo will get even closer to Venus in a maneuver designed to help it slow down sharply and safely steer into the orbit of Mercury in 2025. “Without the flyby, we would not be able to reach our target planet," said Elsa Montagnon, the spacecraft operations manager for BepiColombo. NASA and the European Space Agency are planning to send three more missions to Venus toward the end of the decade.

Source: The Hindu August 08, 2021 18:33 UTC