Soviet-era spacecraft crashes back to Earth after 53 years
What's the story
A Soviet spacecraft, launched in 1972 for a mission to Venus, is believed to have re-entered Earth's atmosphere today. The European Space Agency (ESA), which was tracking the craft's uncontrolled descent, reported that it was last detected by radar over Germany. At the time of its predicted crash, radar signals were no longer able to detect Kosmos 482. ESA concluded that "it is most likely that the re-entry has already occurred."
Mission details
A failed mission's long orbit
The Kosmos 482 spacecraft belonged to the USSR's Venera program, a series of probes sent to study Venus. While 10 missions successfully landed on the inhospitable planet, the rocket carrying Kosmos 482 malfunctioned, and its upper stage with the descent craft got stuck in Earth's orbit. For over 50 years, this roughly three-foot-wide and 1,069-pound (approximately 486kg) spacecraft circled Earth in an ever-decreasing elliptical orbit until it was close enough to fall into Earth's atmosphere.
Re-entry
Kosmos 482's re-entry: A safe descent
Despite the risk of space debris, no injuries or damage have been reported due to Kosmos 482's re-entry. ESA officials said in a blog post about Kosmos-482 that "the risk of any satellite reentry causing injury is extremely remote." They added, "The annual risk of an individual human being injured by space debris is under 1 in 100 billion. In comparison, a person is about 65,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning."
Forecast
US Space Force's prediction
On Friday, the US Space Force predicted that Kosmos 482 would re-enter the atmosphere at 1:52am ET (11:22am IST) today above the Pacific Ocean, west of Guam. The prediction was part of the monitoring efforts for the spacecraft's uncontrolled descent. Despite its long orbit around Earth, no injuries or damage have been reported following its return to our planet.