JAXA begins to shift Venus probe orbit

Japan's space agency has begun moving its probe closer to Venus so that it can be put into orbit around the planet in 2015 or later.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, failed to put the Akatsuki probe into orbit around Venus last December. The probe is now circling the sun behind the planet.

Engineers had thought they could make another attempt at putting Akatsuki in its present condition into orbit in 4 years' time, at the earliest.

But they gave up on the plan after discovering the probe's main engine was more badly damaged than they thought.

They are now aiming to use smaller posture-controlling engines to place the probe into a different orbit that also circles Venus.

On Tuesday, engineers at a control center near Tokyo thrust the 4 small engines around the main engine for about 10 minutes.

The maneuver will be carried out 2 more times this month.

Although Akatsuki no longer can conduct the originally planned observation of Venus, project manager Masato Nakamura vowed to persevere to enable observations with scientific significance.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 18:57 +0900 (JST)