Spacecraft slots into orbit after 16 turns around the planet

After 16 loops around Venus, the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft has reached its final operational orbit.

Launched on 9 November 2005, Venus Express arrived at its destination on 11 April after a five-month interplanetary journey.

The craft initially entered a preliminary elliptical, or 'capture', orbit. Over the next nine days the Venus Express had to perform a series of manoeuvres to put it into position for its final orbit.

These were achieved by means of the main engine which had to be fired twice during this period, and through the banks of thrusters which were ignited five times.

Andrea Accomazzo, spacecraft operations manager at the European Space Operations Centre, said: "It is through this series of operations that we reached the final orbit last Sunday, about one orbital revolution after the last 'pericentre change manoeuvre' on 6 May.

"This is the orbit designed to perform the best possible observations of Venus, given the scientific objectives of the mission."

Håkan Svedhem, Venus Express project scientist, added: "These include global observations of the Venusian atmosphere, the surface characteristics and the interaction of the planetary environment with the solar wind.

"It allows detailed high resolution observations near pericentre and the North Pole, and it lets us study the very little explored region around the South Pole for long durations at a medium scale."

Venus Express will continue its 'orbit commissioning phase', started on 22 April, until the beginning of June.

"The spacecraft instruments are now being switched on one by one for detailed checking, which we will continue until mid-May. Then we will operate them all t ogether or in groups," said Don McCoy, Venus Express project manager.

"This allows simultaneous observations of phenomena to be tested, to be ready when Venus Express' nominal science phase begins on 4 June."