Venus Express began orbiting Venus
The European spacecraft Venus Express entered orbit around the neighboring planet after a five-month journey. Early Tuesday morning, control center personnel ignited the main engine to reduce the spacecraft's speed and allow it to be captured in Venus's gravitational field.
Venus Express will orbit Venus for about 500 Earth days to study its atmosphere, which has been accelerated by the greenhouse effect. The mission may shed light on the mechanisms of climate change on Earth.
The ignition of the main engine was carried out from the European Space Agency's control center in Darmstadt, Germany, at 07:17 GMT.
The critical 49-minute maneuver was designed to reduce the spacecraft's relative speed relative to Venus by about 15% and allow it to enter orbit around the planet.
Mike Healy, director of EADS-Astrium, the subcontractor that built the spacecraft, said the maneuver was successful. "If the ignition had lasted too long, the spacecraft would have crashed into the planet." said.
At 07:45 GMT, while the ignition was still in progress, the spacecraft disappeared behind the planet, thus cutting off contact with Earth. After about ten minutes, the control center received the signal from the spacecraft - an initial message that the maneuver worked and that the spacecraft was orbiting Venus. The scientists, engineers and officials in the control center clapped, cheered and hugged each other.
"It's a fantastic mission for us, we've finally made it to Venus," said project manager Don McCoy.
