News > Europe's double date with Venus: Two spacecraft set to swing past Earth's mysterious twin
Europe's double date with Venus: Two spacecraft set to swing past Earth's mysterious twin
09/08/2021 06:20 PM | Click to read full article
Two spacecraft are set to swoop past Venus within hours of each other this week. The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter probe, will swing around Venus early Monday, using the planet’s gravity to help put it on a course to observe the Sun’s poles.
About 33 hours later, the European-Japanese spacecraft BepiColombo will get even closer to Venus in a maneuver designed to help it slow down sharply and safely steer into the orbit of Mercury in 2025.
