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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The Venusian cloud tops during nearly a full orbit of ESA’s Venus Express around the planet. The inset shows the corresponding position and relative speed of Venus Express as it approaches from its furthest distance of 66 000 km above the south pole, swooping down to 250 km above the north pole.
The images were captured by the Venus Monitoring Camera on 7–8 January 2012 and are shown in false colour. The video was compiled using public data from the Venus Express data archive and was released as an ESA space science image of the week feature.