The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Venus climate orbiter, Akatsuki, has arrived at the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan in preparation for its launch in May 2010.
Akatsuki, with a design life of 4.5 years, will enter an elliptical orbit 300km to 80,000km away from Venus’s surface.
The 1,058lb spacecraft will make comprehensive observations of the planet’s meteorological phenomena, its surface and of atmospheric particles escaping from Venus into space.
The orbiter will use infrared to observe and determine the atmosphere under the clouds and the conditions on the planet’s surface, as well as confirm the presence of active volcanoes and thunder.
Component parts and manoeuvring propellant will be loaded into the spacecraft before it undergoes further flight readiness tests.
The probe will then be integrated with the two-stage H-2A rocket that will launch it towards Venus.
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By GlobalData
