unprecedented long-term observation of Venus's atmosphere. ESA concluded the Venus Express mission in December 2014. As of 2020, Japan's Akatsuki is in a highly eccentric orbit around Venus since 7December 2015, and there are several probing proposals under study by Roscosmos, NASA, ISRO, ESA, and the private sector (e.g. by Rocketlab). In culture Venus is a primary feature of the night sky, and so has been of remarkable importance in mythology, astrology and fiction throughout history and in different cultures. The Maya considered Venus to be the most important celestial body after the Sun and Moon. They called it Chac ek, or Noh Ek', "the Great Star". The cycles of Venus were important to their calendar and were described in some of their books such as Maya Codex of Mexico and Dresden Codex. In Chinese the planet is called Jīn-xīng (金星), the golden planet of the metal element. Modern Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures refer to the planet literally as the "metal star" (), based on the Five elements. Venus is known as Kejora in Indonesian and Malaysian Malay. In India Shukra Graha ("the planet Shukra") is named after the powerful saint Shukra. Shukra which is used in Indian Vedic astrology means "clear, pure" or "brightness, clearness" in Sanskrit. One of the nine Navagraha, it is held to affect wealth, pleasure and reproduction; it was the son of Bhrgu, preceptor of the Daityas, and guru of the Asuras. The word Shukra is also associated with semen, or generation. In Sumerian religion, Inanna was associated with the planet Venus. Several hymns praise Inanna in her role as the goddess of the planet Venus. Theology professor Jeffrey Cooley has argued that, in many myths, Inanna's movements may correspond with the movements of the planet Venus in the sky. The discontinuous movements of Venus relate to both mythology as well as Inanna's dual nature. In Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, unlike any other deity, Inanna is able to descend into the netherworld and return to the heavens. The planet Venus appears to make a similar descent, setting in the West and then rising again in the East. An introductory hymn describes Inanna leaving the heavens and heading for Kur, what could be presumed to be, the mountains, replicating the rising and setting of Inanna to the West. In Inanna and Shukaletuda and Inanna's Descent into the Underworld appear to parallel the motion