News About Venus 09-NOV-09 en-us Paris (AFP) Sept 16, 2009 - Venus is characterised today as the planet from hell yet may have been closer to a cherished idea that it was once Earth's twin, a conference heard on Wednesday.]]> Bonn, Germany (SPX) Jul 21, 2009 - Scientists at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON) have found a new area of deployment for the SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY) atmospheric instrument on the European environmental satellite Envisat.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Jul 15, 2009 - Venus Express has charted the first map of Venus's southern hemisphere at infrared wavelengths. The new map hints that our neighbouring world may once have been more Earth-like, with both, a plate tectonics system and an ocean of water.]]> Paris (AFP) June 10, 2009 - A force known as orbital chaos may cause our Solar System to go haywire, leading to possible collision between Earth and Venus or Mars, according to a study released Wednesday.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Feb 25, 2009 - ESA's Venus Express spacecraft has observed an eerie glow in the night-time atmosphere of Venus. This infrared light comes from nitric oxide and is showing scientists that the atmosphere of Earth's nearest neighbour is a temperamental place of high winds and turbulence.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Dec 04, 2008 - A pale yellow dot to the human eye, Earth's twin planet comes to life in the ultraviolet and the infrared. New images taken by instruments on board ESA's Venus Express provide insight into the turbulent atmosphere of our neighbouring planet.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Oct 13, 2008 - Scientists using ESA's Venus Express are trying to observe whether Earth is habitable. Silly, you might think, when we know that Earth is richly stocked with life. In fact, far from being a pointless exercise, Venus Express is paving the way for an exciting new era in astronomy.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Sep 19, 2008 - It is well known that winds on Venus are extremely fast and powerful. Now, ESA's Venus Express has, for the first time, put together a 3-D picture of the venusian winds for an entire planetary hemisphere.]]> San Sebastian, Spain (SPX) Sep 04, 2008 - Venus is a planet similar in size to the Earth. Nevertheless, it is quite different in other aspects. On the one hand, it spins very slowly on its axis, taking 224 terrestrial days and, moreover, it does so in the opposite direction to that of our planet, i.e. from East to West.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Jul 18, 2008 - Starting this week, spacecraft controllers have been executing a series of manoeuvres to gradually bring Venus Express closer to its host planet. In its modified orbit, the spacecraft will be able to observe unexplored regions and investigate phenomena that were not within its reach before.]]>