“using the gravity of Earth to send it Venus-bound”
While technically correct, this sentence is misleading. The ESA can do better.
Passing by a body can deflect a spacecraft. So technically, the Earth’s gravity sends the craft “Venus bound.” But “the gravity of Earth” imparts no net delta-v and wouldn’t on its own allow the craft to reach Venus.
A “gravity assist around a planet changes a spacecraft's velocity (relative to the Sun) by entering and leaving the gravitational sphere of influence of a planet” [1]. The Earth’s revolution around the Sun gets the craft to Venus, not the Earth’s gravity.
While technically correct, this sentence is misleading. The ESA can do better.
Passing by a body can deflect a spacecraft. So technically, the Earth’s gravity sends the craft “Venus bound.” But “the gravity of Earth” imparts no net delta-v and wouldn’t on its own allow the craft to reach Venus.
A “gravity assist around a planet changes a spacecraft's velocity (relative to the Sun) by entering and leaving the gravitational sphere of influence of a planet” [1]. The Earth’s revolution around the Sun gets the craft to Venus, not the Earth’s gravity.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist