venus
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Venus’ Only Active Probe Mysteriously Falls Silent
For nearly 10 years, there’s been only one spacecraft able to keep its cool above the hellish landscape of Venus. The Japanese Akatsuki probe was sent to Earth’s neighboring planet to observe its atmospheric dynamics, but the lone Venusian mission has suddenly gone quiet. Japan’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) has lost contact…
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‘The Nightmare Is Over’: NASA Resurrects VERITAS Mission to Venus
A long overdue mission to Venus is finally back on track after being put on hold due to budgeting and staffing issues at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). VERITAS, Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, made its way back onto NASA’s budget and is on schedule to launch in 2031, according to mission…
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Enormous Satellite Discovered to Outshine All but the 7 Most Brightest Stars
Late last year, a communications satellite unfurled its giant wings, stretching out a 64-square-metre antenna array in low Earth orbit. Once fully deployed, BlueWalker 3 became one of the brightest objects in the night sky, outshined only by the Moon, Venus, Jupiter and seven stars, according to new research. Texas-based startup AST SpaceMobile launched its…
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NASA Budget Request Is a ‘Soft Cancellation’ of Venus Mission, Experts Say
A highly anticipated mission to Venus is in trouble after NASA pulled all of its funding, save for a tiny fraction meant to keep the planetary orbiter on brittle life support as its fate hangs in the balance.