Two ballistic capsule zipped past Venus at nearly time this week , and we ’re steadily getting more data from this rare three-fold flyby . The research teams have even translated some of this data into sounds , which you could hear below .
BepiColombo is a joint missionary station to Mercury by the Japanese outer space government agency JAXA and the European Space Agency , and the Solar Orbiter is a joint mission between the ESA and NASA . Neither mission is focus on Venus ; both ballistic capsule needed the planet for gravity assist to get them on the correct trajectories for their ultimate destination . But the teams were n’t going to pass up the chance to observe Venus from close mountain chain , as detailed in a recentESA blog C. W. Post .
BepiColombo’sfirst trope of Venuscame to Earth a few days ago . The Italian Spring Accelerometer ( ISA ) aboard the spacecraft tape the craft ’s quickening as it Venus whipped it around . The enquiry squad working on that instrument has since translate the speedup datum into hearable relative frequency , so we can actually get word BepiColombo ’s theodolite of Venus , in a sense . Check it out :
A sequence of images taken by the monitoring cameras on board the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury, as the spacecraft made a close approach of Venus on 16 March 2025.Gif:ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The sound sounds a bit like sound reflection through a hollow pipe . A duo clangor here and there can be attributed to the way Venus ’s gravity impact the spacecraft , according to the ESArelease , and the way that BepiColombo reacted to temperature gain as it passed the satellite . ( The temperature increased by some 230 degrees Fahrenheit , from -148 degrees to a balmy 50 degrees ) .
The teams were also able to translate into audio the fluctuations in Venus ’s magnetic field , using the magnetometers aboard both spacecraft . In the audio below , one can get word how the solar wind interacts with the major planet .
That data vocalise a bit more … staticky ? The frequency changes as BepiColombo passed into the place where Venus ’s magnetosphere and the solar wind sports meeting ( 0:18 in the picture ) . The ESA said that a more elaborated analysis of the data collected by both spacecraft will take berth over the next several weeks .
The Solar Orbiter caught a spectacular view of the planet’sglare , as you may see here :
The Solar Orbiter will carry on to make routine swings past Venus as it bounces between the major planet and the Sun , collecting datum on our star ’s bodily function over the course of instruction of the 11 - year solar cycle . The orbiter will fly by Earth on November 27 , the last time it will pass our pale blue Elvis .
Cosmic VisionOuter spaceSolar OrbiterSpacecraftSpaceflight
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and civilization news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
