While the successful Shuttle launch (justifiably) stole the limelight, almost everyone forgot about the ESA’s poor little Venus Express. But the probe is doing fine; after a long period of careful maneuvers, it has settled into a steady orbit and is busily pumping data back to planet Earth for boffins to pore over. It has already shed light on Venusian features never seen before, such as the double-eyed vortex at the planet’s South Pole.