A Japanese robotic probe will be visiting Venus beginning Monday, December 7, which will be its second and final chance after its first attempt that failed five years ago.

The Akatsuki probe of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is slated to begin its orbit around Venus last December 6, 2010 however, its engine suffered from a major technical failure during its orbit recapture where the spacecraft was flung off into space.  

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The main engine of the Akatsuki has been declared dead ever since, however the robotic spacecraft will fire its thrusters for a 20 minute burn on December 7, 7:00 A.M. Japan time. Confirmation of the Akatsuki finally being captured into Venus' orbit will arrive a few days after this maneuver, according to JAXA mission control officials. 

The US $300 million Akatsuki "Dawn" spacecraft was launched in May 2010 along with another JAXA probe, IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun), which is slated to become the first ever spacecraft to deploy and use a solar sail in space.

The original mission of the Akatsuki is to enter into Venus' orbit for 30 hours and conduct observations and analyses of the planet's atmosphere and clouds including weather patters for a span of two years. The goal was to search for clues how Venus became so hot and inhospitable to live in even if it's Earth's "twin sister planet".

If today's maneuver will be successful, the Akatsuki will achieve most of its objectives however the mission has already changed in numerous aspects. Akatsuki will now observe Venus from a much farther point at a highly elliptical target orbit of eight to nine days as opposed to 30 hours at a distance of 186,000 to 200,000 miles compared to the original 50,000 miles.

This is Japan's second interplanetary mission where the first one, the Nozomi Mars probe also failed to enter Martian orbit in 2003. 

To date, there are no probes or spacecraft orbiting around Venus where the European Space Agency's Venus Express orbiter ended its mission December last year after eight years, on a death dive to the thick and tumultuous Venus atmosphere, where it performed its last maneuver to exhaust its fuel supply.

TagsJAXA akatsuki probe, jaxa, Venus probe, JAXA akatsuki probe venus, venus, japan space missions, JAXA akatsuki