[Friday, October 21, 2005] A dense curtain of mysteries surrounding Venus, the hot and hazy sister planet to Earth, awaits to be opened after the launch of Venus Express, the next planetary probe of the European Space Agency.

[Sunday, October 23, 2005] During the final preparations for the launch of the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft by a Soyuz-Fregat launcher, contamination was detected inside the launcher's fairing.

[Tuesday, October 25, 2005] Following the launch delay due to particulate contamination found in the launcher fairing where the spacecraft was installed, ESA staff and industry teams have started an inspection of the spacecraft.