Paris, July 18 : Spacecraft controllers have started executing a series of manoeuvres to gradually bring Venus Express closer to its host planet, which would enable it to observe unexplored regions and investigate phenomena that were not within its reach before.
The operational manoeuvres to bring the spacecraft closer will be executed through the month of July, settling it into its new orbit by 4 August.
Until now, Venus Express has occupied a highly eccentric polar orbit: at its closest point (pericentre), the spacecraft is between 250 km and 400 km from the planet, and at its farthest (apocentre), it is about 66,000 km away.
The pericentre is located at 84 degrees north.