Venus Express mission

On 5 June 2012, the transit of Venus across the Sun will be visible form the Earth. An event that only happens twice every 112 years.

Venus, along with Mars, is one of Earth's closest planetary neighbours. The planet symbolises beauty and love in many cultures. Always an object of fascination for astronomers, its transit across the face of the sun has always been a great event and this time there is a big bonus, a satellite is circling the planet: Venus Express, launched by ESA in 2005. Venus Express has allowed for intensive observations of Venus, giving the scientific community a better understanding of this very hostile planet with a surface temperature of around 400 degrees. Some of Venus' mysteries are being unveiled.

This video story explains what we know now about our closest neighbour while at Europe's space astronomy centre, ESAC near Madrid, Spain. During the film the team at ESAC are rehearsing the complex procedures needed to observe Venus' transit in front of the Sun.

More background information can be found on: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/index.html