The Akatsuki space probe has successfully entered an orbit around Venus, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced Wednesday. JAXA released images of Venus captured by Akatuki’s cameras.
JAXA performed an attitude control engine thrust operation to insert the spacecraft in an oval-shaped orbit around Venus on Monday morning, five years after the first attempt to do so ended in failure.
After measuring and calculating the probe’s orbit for about two days, JAXA confirmed the probe was following its scheduled path after the successful thrust operation.
Akatsuki, designed by JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara with the aim of solving the mystery of Venus’ dense, cloudy atmosphere, carries five cameras to carry out ultraviolet to infrared photography.(The Japan News)
Link: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002615244
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