After 150 days in transit, ESA's Venus Express orbiter successfully inserted itself into orbit around Earth's 'evil twin' yesterday. Venus orbits the Sun at around 108 million km (68m miles). The surface of Venus is not known as a holiday destination. 400-500°C temperatures and atmospheric pressures strong enough to crush a submarine would give even the most seasoned sunseekers more than mild sunburn.
The new orbiter, which in true pioneering spirit is made up mostly of spare parts from earlier Mars missions, will observe the properties of the atmosphere and other aspects of this enigmatic place. Hopefully, this will give scientists some clues as to what happened to make Venus the hellish place that it's become and what might happen with Global Warming here on planet Earth if we continue to pour Carbon Dioxide into our own atmosphere.
The Impressionist has a bet on that close inspection of the surface of Venus will reveal the smouldering remains of factory chimneys, power stations, freeways and interchanges - the relics of a civilisation that thought, like many of us, that material wealth is the sole object of existence.
Click OK to remove this item or Cancel to keep it in the list
Click OK to empty your shopping cart or Cancel to keep it as it is
Sorry - your shopping cart is full so you can't add any more items.
We have only XITEMSINSTOCK in stock so some of your order may be despatched later. Please contact us if you need more information.
We have only XABSITEMSINSTOCK available. Please contact us if you need more information.
(incl. discount of XLINEDISCOUNT)
XTOTALDISCOUNT
You will now be redirected to PayPal's secure checkout page. This may take a few seconds to display. You do not need to create a PayPal account to pay this way.
Please use your browser's bookmark button to add this page to your favourites.
You have selected one or more patterns that you must download yourself to your own computer. IMPORTANT! Please read carefully the page that follows payment for the instructions on downloading (we will also send you an email). Please click OK to confirm that you wish to proceed, or Cancel to return to the cart.
We regret this item is currently unavailable. It is possible that someone else has recently purchased the last one.
Please select a delivery country before proceeding to checkout.
The shopping cart cannot be displayed - you may have an old version of cart software. Please refresh this page or shut down and restart your browser.
Important!Please click I am in Western Canada if you are in British Columbia, Alberta or The Yukon
Due to severe and persistent delays at the Vancouver Customs facility we have suspended deliveries to British Columbia, Alberta and The Yukon until a normal delivery service is resumed.
We offer a variety of secure payment methods for your safety and convenience:
Mastercard or Visa credit and debit cards
PayPal®, the world's leading on-line payment processor
Cheque Payment (£GBP only)
No-quibble money back guarantee
Telephone supportin UK: 0207-100-3509 in US/Canada: 206-886-0514 International: (+)44-207-100-3509
"I have received my chart I ordered yesterday ,what excellent service 24 hour from placing order to receiving the chart. I will certainly use your company again and pass your name on to like minded friends. Thank you" - VB, Yorks., United Kingdom
"Dear Arts and Designs, Just a note of thanks and to let you know the cross stitch arrived yesterday (Thursday). It was very well packed and in perfect condition and thank you so much for your prompt despatch. Yours sincerely" - DS, QLD, Australia
"Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for the prompt manner in which you filled my order. I just ordered three more kits and I am sure this will not be my last order. Its refreshing to find a dealer that delivers exactly what is promised. Also the directions in the kit were very detailed and left nothing to guess work. Thanks again to my newly found friends across the pond." - MD, CA, United States