Venus is one of the most interesting cosmic objects from our Solar System. Despite looking all sparkling and beautiful in the night sky, Venus has conditions that can never be withstood by a human being. Even landing there on a spacesuit would be complicated due to the scorching temperatures, the atmospheric pressure, and the suffocating flood of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
But sending some advanced gear to scan our neighbouring planet up-close still remains a great idea. Astronomers have done it before, and they will do it again. Even flybys could turn out to be incredibly useful. Who knows what astronomers could discover?
Solar Orbiter and BepiColombo will perform flybys on August 9 and 10
According to EarthSky.org, two spacecraft will perform flybys on Venus within just 33 hours depart from each other, on August 9 and 10. They’ll be using the gravity of our neighbouring planet to arrive close to the Sun and Mercury.
The Solar Orbiter is one of the spacecraft, and it has been developed by the European Space Agency. It’s heading towards the Sun to observe the solar poles.
BepiColombo is the other spacecraft in question, and it’s a joint mission of the ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). It has the planet Mercury as its destination.
Perhaps the Solar Orbiter is the most important spacecraft. NASA explains on its website:
Solar Orbiter is traveling as close as 26 million miles [42 million km] from the sun, inside the orbit of Mercury, to measure the magnetic fields, waves, energetic particles and plasma escaping the sun while they are still in their pristine state, before being modified and mixed in their long journey from the sun.
The Sun is pretty much as romantic relationships. It provides addictive energy, and you can’t live without it. But if you get too close, you realize how terrifyingly dangerous it can become.
