ESA Venus Express

Currently orbiting Venus, this mission's science objectives are to study the atmosphere, the plasma environment, and the surface of Venus in great detail. It has been successfully operating in orbit around Venus since April 2006. Recently, this spacecraft was busy taking measurements during the transit of Venus across the Sun. According to the Venus Express blog, the spacecraft orbiting Venus is measuring sunlight as it filters through Venus atmosphere, revealing the concentration of different gas molecules at different altitudes. Simultaneous ground-based measurements will be compared with Venus Express data to test techniques use to characterize rocky Earth-size planets. See what's going on with Venus Express today.