Venus Express (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven scientific instruments, the main objective of the mission was the long term observation of the Venusian atmosphere. The observation over such long periods of time had never been done in previous missions to Venus, and was key to a better understanding of the atmospheric dynamics. ESA concluded the mission in December 2014.
Venus Express in orbit
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is a terrestrial planet and is the closest in mass and size to its orbital neighbour Earth. Venus is notable for having the densest atmosphere of the terrestrial planets, composed mostly of carbon dioxide with a thick, global sulfuric acid cloud cover. At the surface it has a mean temperature of 737 K and a pressure of 92 times that of Earth's at sea level. These extreme conditions compress carbon dioxide into a supercritical state close to Venus's surface.
True colour image of Venus, as captured by MESSENGER. A global layer of bright sulfuric acid clouds permanently obscures the Venusian surface.
Venus to scale among the terrestrial planets of the Solar System, which are arranged by the order of their Inner Solar System orbits outward from the Sun (from left: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars)
Surface of Venus as seen by Venera 13.
Radar mosaic of two 65 km (40 mi) wide (and less than 1 km (0.62 mi) high) pancake domes in Venus's Eistla region