The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Since July 2006, Venus Express has been making the most detailed study to date of the planet’s dense and complex atmosphere.
Data gathered by Venus Express has confirmed for the first time the presence of a huge 'double-eye' atmospheric vortex at the planet's South Pole. The process that forms Venus' polar vortices is similar to the process forming those on Earth, in which the warm equator drives high equatorial winds up towards the cooler poles, and the winds become unstable. On Venus, such vortices are similar to hurricanes on Earth however they have a much larger scale, spanning thousands of kilometres rather than hundreds.
Scientists are also analysing data from Venus Express to understand if there is still any volcanic activity on the planet, which would explain how atmospheric gases, lost through thermal dissociation, are replenished.