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TOKYO — A Japanese space probe sent to the thick clouds of Venus shut itself down, and its future looks as hazy as the planet it was built to study.
The probe, called Akatsuki, which means “dawn,” reached Venus on Tuesday to orbit Earth’s neighbor on a two-year mission. But communication problems left scientists in the dark about whether it was successfully in orbit.
An American scientist on the probe’s research team said the probe shut itself partially down and is in safe mode. That means it is sending back signals indicating it is alive but not transmitting data.
