European Space Agency prepares for consecutive overflights of Venus | Venus

The European Space Agency is preparing for consecutive overflights of the same planet by two different spacecraft, one day apart.

On August 9, the Esa-Nasa Solar Orbiter spacecraft will fly over Venus with an approach closest to 7,995 km (4,968 miles). A day later, the Esa-Jaxa BepiColombo mission will drop to an altitude of only 550 km (342 miles).

Flying near a planet is known as gravitational assistance. Indeed, such flyovers were first used to increase the orbital energy of a spacecraft, projecting it further into the solar system.

But here both missions will use the maneuver to waste energy, allowing them to get closer to the sun. In the case of Solar Orbiter, the gravity of Venus will help change its orbital tilt, eventually allowing the spacecraft to see the poles of the sun.

BepiColombo’s ultimate destination is the planet Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. Using the gravitational aids of Earth, Venus, and Mercury, Bepi will perform the delicate maneuver of orbiting the tiny planet, a difficult task given that Mercury is buried deep within the Sun’s powerful gravitational field. The data collected during the overflights will be combined with Jaxa’s Akatsuki mission, which is currently orbiting Venus.