Project "Venus Express"
D. V. Titov et al. (IKI)
Abstract:
Venus Express - the orbiter
mission to Venus in 2005 - has been proposed in response to the ESA Call
for Ideas to reuse the Mars Express spacecraft and available
instruments and has been approved in November 2002. The mission aims at a
global investigation of the Venus’ atmosphere and plasma environment
from the polar orbit, and addresses some aspects of the surface physics.
Reuse of the Mars Express bus provides an excellent platform for Venus
exploration. Eight instruments, mainly spares available from Mars Express
and Rosetta projects, compose the most powerful scientific payload ever
flown to Venus. IKI is deeply involved in four experiments by hardware
delivery and data analysis. Venus Express scientific goals, mission
scenario, and payload with emphasis on the experiments with Russian
participation will be presented at the seminar.