Rare series flights to Venus will take place on August 9th and 10th

Two spacecraft will fly past Venus in just 33 hours next week. A rare twin-flying study allows researchers to observe the planet from multiple locations simultaneously.

The two vehicles are the Solar Orbiter and the Pepicolombo Mercury Mission. The first is ESA’s cooperation with NASA and the second is ESA’s cooperation with the Japanese space agency Jaxa. Both spacecraft will fly near Venus on August 9 and 10, with solar exploration flying about 5,000 miles away and Pepicolombo grazing the planet nearly 350 miles away.

I know what you think. Apparently, one of these orbits is aligned with the Sun and the other with Mercury. What gives? Why the confusion with Venus? Well, both spacecraft rely on gravity aids to achieve their ultimate goals in the solar system. Gravity helps spaceships fly in new directions using the gravitational forces of cosmic objects and save fuel.

Conveniently, supporting the spacecraft should be relatively close to these objects, which provides additional data for ground researchers. The Sun’s orbit began with this gravitational force Since last year; There should be six in total, five of which are Venus-shaped flying birds. BepiColombo built one spacecraft on Earth in April 2020 and Venus last October, and is expected to build six aircraft on Mercury by 2025.

During next week’s flight, the European Space Agency has announced that Venus will not be able to be filmed in high resolution with their science cameras in both space probes. Press Release. The solar probe should focus on the sun – you guessed it – and the main Pepicolombo camera is hidden in the vehicle’s transmission module. But Pepicolombo’s two surveillance cameras will take some black and white shots as they approach Venus. These images are expected to reach Earth within 24 hours of being taken. The Solohi Imager of the Solar Orbiter can explore the night area of ​​Venus.

BepiColombo will see Mercury for the first time in early October, and solar exploration will form its final path near Earth at the end of November. Eventually, data from the upcoming Venus Flypiece will be useful to the European Space Agency’s Envision Orbiter, which is scheduled to launch in Venus in the early 2030s. Even after the solar orbit reaches Earth, it usually rotates next to Venus, giving it a position that allows it to see the sun better. In the meantime, get your fingers crossed and we’ll get some good pictures of this spacecraft next week.

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