Russian spacecraft could crash on Earth. It was planned to land on Venus in 1972
Russian spacecraft Cosmos 482, which was destined to land on Venus, is returning to crash on Earth nearly 53 years after it was launched.Cosmos 482 is a Soviet spacecraft launched on March 31, 1972, intended to land on Venus as part of the Venera program. However, due to a malfunction in its rocket stage, it failed to escape Earth's orbit and instead became stranded in low Earth orbit.advertisementLatest satellite tracking data reveals that its parachutes could already be released after tumbling in low Earth orbit for over half a century.
Satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands, who captured the high-resolution images, noted that Cosmos 482 is roughly 130 kilometres closer than the Starlink bus which, according to data, is around 1.3 meters by 2.7 meters.
Telescopic images of the Soviet Cosmos 482 Venus descent craft. (Photo: Ralf Vandebergh)
"Several frames seem to confirm what I thought to see in the 2014 images, [that] there is a compact ball but several frames show a weak elongated structure at one particular side of the ball," Vandebergh told space.com. He cautioned that more time is needed to better analyse what's showing up in the imagery.advertisementAstronomers are hopeful that the spacecraft, which was built to survive the thick Venusian atmosphere, could survive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and land intact on the surface.The crash is likely to take place on May 10 based on the current trajectory of the spacecraft.The spacecraft was meant to deliver a lander to Venus to study the planet's atmosphere and surface conditions. Its Block L upper stage failed to fire correctly, preventing it from achieving the velocity needed to break free from Earth's gravity.Parts of the spacecraft, including the Venus lander module, are still intact in orbit around Earth. Due to its dense heat shield, it could survive the fiery re-entry.Cosmos 482 is one of the few spacecraft in Earth's orbit that was originally designed for another planet. Its reentry could be spectacular when it happens.
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