BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- European Space Agency (ESA) is ready for the launch of its Venus Express at 0333 GMT Wednesday.

    "We've just had the pre-launch briefing and everything is in the green zone," said ESA spokeswoman Jocelyne Landeau. "Everything is ready for go."

    The robotic craft is scheduled to lift off on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will take Venus Express about five months to reach the planet and enter polar orbit.

    The Paris-based ESA says Venus Express is to orbit the planet for about 500 Earth days to study Venus's atmosphere, which has experienced runaway greenhouse warming, according to the report of BBC.

    In addition, instruments on the probe will try to find an indication as to whether Venus' many volcanoes are active.

    "Venus is still a big mystery," Gerhard Schwehm, head of the planetary missions at ESA said Monday. Enditem

    (Agencies)