In 2007 Japan plans to launch a space probe to Venus. This spacecraft will be the first of its kind. It will be unmanned, and is predicted to start orbiting Venus in 2009. Japan will be the third country to send a probe to Venus, following the United States and former Soviet Union. The Japanese [...]

Venus has been known since prehistoric times. It is the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun and the Moon. Originally, it was popularly thought to be two separate bodies: Eosphorus as the morning star and Hesperus as the evening star, later scientists proclaimed that was inaccurate.
Venus is usually visible with the unaided [...]