Venus Exploration: Russian Scientists Engaged

Venus exploration is actually very important for climatology of the planet
Scientists from the Space Research Institute in the Russian Academy of Sciences will participate in a European mission to Venus performed by the Venus-Express unmanned station, Director of the Space Research Institute Oleg Korablev said in an interview to RIA Novosti on Tuesday. "Russian scientists will participate in preparation of two spectrometers meant for measuring temperature and speed with which Venus atmospheric strata are moving around at the height of up to 90 meters above the planet's surface."

Oleg Korablev says that Venus's atmosphere is moving quicker than the planet itself which is still an unsolved mystery for scientists.

New data obtained on Venus with the help of the Venus-Express unmanned station will help scientists understand some processes of weather formation typical of the greenhouse effect. When scientists compare the atmospheric peculiarities of Venus, Earth and Mars, they will get a wider range of information about climatology.
 
Oleg Korablev said that the Venus-Express start is scheduled for November 2005. The unmanned station will be started from the Baikonur space center with Russia's Soyuz rocket-carrier and the Fregat boost block. The space devices were already used on June 2 when Mars-Express, the European space station was started; the station is now on its way to Mars.
 
According to the director of the Space Research Institute, both project meant for exploration of Venus and Mars emphasize still increasing cooperation between Russia and Europe in space exploration.