Probe to view Venus atmosphere

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency showed to the media Friday the planetary probe Akatsuki, which will attempt to travel to Venus to examine its climate.

JAXA plans to launch the rectangular probe — 2.1 meters in height, 1.45 meters in width and 1.05 meters in depth — next year from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.

With observation instruments, antennas and most other devices already installed, the probe will undergo a thermal vacuum test in January.

The climate of Venus is very different from that of Earth, having a massive carbon dioxide atmosphere that is extremely hot due to the greenhouse effect and is covered by sulfuric acid clouds, JAXA said.

The probe will also attempt to explore why the atmosphere of Venus rotates much faster than the planet's rotation.

Akatsuki will observe the atmosphere, cloud movements and whether thunder occurs, using five instruments, including ones to measure near-infrared rays and ultraviolet rays, while on an elliptical orbit ranging from 300 km to 80,000 km.