Akatsuki: Last active Venus mission terminated after loss of contact
At the beginning of 2024, contact was lost with the only active probe on Venus, and all attempts to rescue it failed. The mission has now been terminated.
Artistic representation of Akatsuki at Venus
(Image: JAXA)
The Japanese space agency JAXA has ended the mission of the Venus probe Akatsuki (あかつき), meaning that humanity now officially has no more active probes on the second planet in the solar system. In fact, this had already been the case for some time, as contact with the space probe was lost in the spring of 2024. Since then, JAXA has tried various measures to reestablish contact with Akatsuki, but unfortunately without success. However, because it had long since exceeded its planned mission time and was almost at the end of its operational life anyway, it was decided to officially discontinue work on it. This happened yesterday, Thursday.
The ignored Venus
Akatsuki (Japanese for "dawn") is actually called "Venus Climate Orbiter" and was launched in 2010. In December 2015, it entered orbit around our morning star after a first attempt five years earlier had failed. It completed its main mission in 2018, but continues to carry out further observations. After the end of the ESA's Venus Express mission, the Japanese orbiter was the only spacecraft to maintain its position at our neighboring planet, while Mars has recently become increasingly crowded. Among other things, the probe discovered and analyzed a gigantic, arc-shaped structure in the dense atmosphere of Venus. According to the data provided, this is likely to be a so-called gravity wave.
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While Mars has recently become increasingly crowded, Akatsuki is now the last terrestrial visitor to Venus to fall silent. However, several Venus missions are currently being prepared. One of the most ambitious is NASA's Davinci (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging) probe. However, it is not scheduled to launch until the end of the decade. The Veritas (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) probe is then set to follow in 2013. With the Vernus Life Finder, a private mission to Venus is also planned, which, after several delays, is now scheduled to launch next year.
(mho)
