Updates JAXA Akatsuki (PLANET-C) and IKAROS updates

[Unstung]

Has anybody noticed any mention of aerobraking to lower Akatsuki's apoapsis? While the first two years of the mission appear to be set in stone, an extended mission might be able to lower the apoapsis to 80,000 km as originally planned. Venus Express demonstrated Venusian aerobraking just last year.

 

[Notebook]

Been a while...

A giant wave in the atmosphere of Venus may be the biggest of its kind in the Solar System.
The feature, observed by a Japanese spacecraft, is thought to be generated in a broadly similar way to the surface ripples that form as water flows over rocks on a stream bed.
In this case, the wave is thought to form as the lower atmosphere flows over mountains on Venus' surface.
The findings are published in Nature Geoscience journal.
Just after entering orbit around Venus in 2015, the Akatsuki spacecraft observed a bow-shaped feature in the upper atmosphere over several days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38638067

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