Japan's Akatsuki Probe Enters Venus' Orbit

Japan's "Akatsuki" probe has successfully entered Venus' orbit, after its first attempt to reach the second planet from the sun had failed five years ago. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) revealed that this is the first Japanese space probe to enter another planet's orbit.

"The probe is functioning properly," Masato Nakamura, JAXA project manager, said in a news release. "We'll conduct an initial observation for three months... We'll then shift to full observation in April."

In 2010, Akatsuki was fired up on a 25.2 billion yen ($205 million) mission where it was aiming to observe Venus' very-hot volcanic surface and its toxic atmosphere. However, the box-shaped probe was unable to enter Venus's gravitational pull. Akatsuki went right past Venus, thus JAXA technicians needed to make a second attempt.

A week later there was a successful Venus orbit, when another Japanese space probe, "Hayabusa 2", passed by earth to harness its gravitational pull to propel it towards a distant asteroid in its quest to study the origin of the solar system. Hayabusa 2 was approximately 3,090 kilometres (1,900 miles) above the surface, then it continued to orbit towards the tiny Ryugu asteroid.

A year ago, Hayabusa 2 was launched on a six-year mission to gather mineral samples from the asteroid. Hayabusa 2 is expected to reach Ryugu, an Apollo asteroid by 2018. If it is successful, soil samples could be brought to earth by 2020.

This study could enable researchers to have a better understanding on how the solar system was formed 4.6 billion years ago.

Related Articles

Cosmic Collision From 360 Million Years Ago Gets Visit From VLT

Heavy Elements' Origin In The Universe: Scientists Explains Theory

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).