<div dir="ltr"><div><p style="margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:1.5;font-family:"Open Sans",Arial,sans-serif;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><font size="4">"Venus is about to get double the extra attention. NASA's <a href="https://www.space.com/35865-solar-orbiter-facts.html" class="gmail-hawk-link-parsed" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(54,105,201);text-decoration-line:none">Solar Orbiter</a>, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), will hone in on Venus on Aug. 9, but it won't be alone for long. Another ESA spacecraft, <a href="https://www.space.com/35671-bepicolombo-facts.html" class="gmail-hawk-link-parsed" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(54,105,201);text-decoration-line:none">BepiColombo</a> (a partnership with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA) will fly by the planet just one day later. </font></p><div id="gmail-ad-unit-1" class="gmail-ad-unit" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:"Open Sans",Arial,sans-serif;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51)"></div><div id="gmail-bordeaux-static-slot-6" style="margin:auto;padding:0px;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:"Open Sans",Arial,sans-serif;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51);display:flex"></div><p style="margin:0px 0px 1em;padding:0px;border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:1.5;font-family:"Open Sans",Arial,sans-serif;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><font size="4">The spacecraft are both headed toward the inner solar system. Solar Orbiter launched in 2020 with a mission to study <a href="https://www.space.com/58-the-sun-formation-facts-and-characteristics.html" class="gmail-hawk-link-parsed" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(54,105,201);text-decoration-line:none">the sun</a>, while BepiColombo launched in 2018 and has been en route to Mercury ever since." </font></p></div><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><font size="4"><a href="https://www.space.com/two-venus-flybys-bepicolombo-solar-orbiter">https://www.space.com/two-venus-flybys-bepicolombo-solar-orbiter</a></font><br></div>