Beyond the clouds: News from Venus

After many years of exploration of planet Venus by sovjet and american spacecraft a large number of questions about history and structure of the planet and its atmosphere remained open. In 2005 the first European mission to planet Venus was launched: Venus Express – with a strong contribution by the MPI for Solar System Research. First analyses of the data received since 2006 show a previously unimagined structuring and dynamics of the cloud layers and allow new conclusions about the evolution of the atmosphere of Venus.