Latest news with #MarcoLangbroek
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch how an old Venus spacecraft tumbled before crashing to Earth
Before a Soviet-era spacecraft intended for Venus crashed back to Earth over the weekend, German astronomers watched it tumble through space. As Kosmos 482 took its last laps, a German radar station spotted the uncrewed landing capsule passing over its antenna. The station, the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, has combined its observations with an image of a similar capsule to show the spacecraft's orientation and features in the radar reflection. The data, presented as a GIF farther down in this story, helped the European Space Agency track the probe in its final hours, though its final resting place — most likely a watery grave — is still unknown. If it indeed plunged into the Indian Ocean as some computer simulations have suggested, "only the whales and albatross saw it," said Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek in a post on X. SEE ALSO: Stunning video reveals Jupiter's roiling auroras. See it now. A predecessor to the lost Soviet spacecraft, either the Venera 5 or Venera 6 capsule, is being prepared for launch in January 1969, in this still image taken from the film "The Storming of Venus." Credit: Sovfoto / Universal Images Group / Getty Images The Venera mission, which launched from Kazakhstan on March 31, 1972, failed long before the Soviet Union could attempt to touch down on Venus. Because of a propulsion problem, it never escaped Earth's orbit. A half-century later, the landing capsule was predicted to reenter the atmosphere. That day arrived on Saturday, May 10. Space debris and expired satellites often fall back to Earth inconsequentially, mostly burning up on the way down. Whatever survives often plummets into an ocean, never to be found. This anticipated-yet-uncontrolled reentry was to be exceptional, though: It grabbed the attention of researchers and military officials because of its potential to survive the journey mostly intact. After all, the 1,000-pound spacecraft was built to withstand the harsh environment of an alien planet — the hottest in the solar system, in fact. Venus' climate could melt lead, and the atmospheric pressure is 75 times that of Earth. Watch the GIF of the tumbling Soviet spacecraft in the above X post. Credit: Fraunhofer FHR Fraunhofer FHR was likely the last to see Kosmos 482. It passed about 62 miles overhead on May 10, at 8:04 a.m. CEST, according to the station. When the object was not detected again one orbit later, at 9:32 a.m. CEST, researchers reasonably assumed the landing or splashdown occurred between those two times. A tracking and imaging radar like the one used by the German station is a way to observe space, but it's not a telescope. It uses radio waves instead of light to study objects, such as satellites, debris, and meteors. Exactly where and when this Cold War space race relic died is unclear, as it seems there were no eyewitnesses to the fall. The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos said it plummeted over the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta, Indonesia, at 9:24 a.m. Moscow time, according to a Telegram post, and NASA appears to be accepting of that data. Other reports, some based on earlier predictions, varied. The U.S. Space Command, which tracks reentering space objects, has not confirmed any reports or provided its own data on Kosmos 482. An information request from Mashable wasn't answered Tuesday.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Failed Soviet Probe Plunges Back to Earth After 53 Years Stuck in Orbit
A spacecraft that got stuck in Earth orbit after a failed attempt to travel to Venus more than 50 years ago has finally returned to Earth. Kosmos 482, the last remnant of the Soviet Venus exploration program, plunged on an uncontrolled reentry back into Earth's atmosphere on 10 May 2025, just over 53 years after it was dispatched on its mission on 31 March 1972. Because Kosmos 482 was built to withstand conditions on Venus – scorching temperatures averaging 464 °C (867 °F), acid rain, and crushing atmospheric pressure – scientists had hypothesized that the 495-kilogram (1,091-pound) lander might at least partially survive atmospheric entry. However, according to Russia's government space agency, the spacecraft probably fell into the ocean. Which would be unsurprising, given that some 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered by water. "The Kosmos-482 spacecraft, launched in 1972, ceased to exist, deorbiting and falling into the Indian Ocean," Roscosmos wrote in a Telegram post on May 10. "According to calculations by specialists from TsNIIMash (part of Roscosmos), the spacecraft entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 09:24 Moscow time [06:24 UTC], 560 kilometers west of Middle Andaman Island, and fell into the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta." Astronomer Marco Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden, a satellite tracking facility in the Netherlands, says some uncertainty remains about Kosmos 482's final resting place, since the Roscosmos calculations are not based on observation, but modeling. However, the European Space Agency estimates the time of entry at 06:16 UTC, and the Technical University of Denmark estimates it at 06:40 UTC. The Roscosmos estimate sits nicely in the middle of the two estimates. The Indian Ocean, Langbroek says, is the most likely place for the spacecraft to have splashed down. We won't know for sure until more data is in. For now, we'll just have to settle for knowing that it did come down, and didn't land in a place where it's going to cause any problems, which is a nice win for humanity, all things considered. You can read more about the wild history of Kosmos 482 here. New Signals Hint at a Lost Ocean of Water Concealed Within Mars A Hidden Supermassive Black Hole Has Just Revealed Itself in Deep Space This Galactic 'Bone' Was Smashed by a Pulsar Clocking Up to 2 Million MPH
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Science
- Epoch Times
Soviet-Era Spacecraft Is Set to Plunge to Earth a Half-Century After Its Failed Launch to Venus
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A Soviet-era spacecraft meant to land on Venus in the 1970s is expected to soon plunge uncontrolled back to Earth. It's too early to know where the half-ton mass of metal might come down or how much of it will survive reentry, according to space debris-tracking experts. Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek predicts the failed spacecraft will reenter around May 10. He estimates it will come crashing in at 150 mph, if it remains intact. 'While not without risk, we should not be too worried,' Langbroek said in an email. The object is relatively small and, even if it doesn't break apart, 'the risk is similar to that of a random meteorite fall, several of which happen each year. You run a bigger risk of getting hit by lightning in your lifetime,' he said. The chance of the spacecraft actually hitting someone or something is small, he added. 'But it cannot be completely excluded.' Related Stories 4/20/2025 3/6/2025 The Soviet Union launched the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 in 1972, one of a series of Venus missions. But it never made it out of Earth orbit because of a rocket malfunction. Most of it came tumbling down within a decade. But Langbroek and others believe the landing capsule itself—a spherical object about 3 feet in diameter—has been circling the world in a highly elliptical orbit for the past 53 years, gradually dropping in altitude. It's quite possible that the 1,000-pound-plus spacecraft will survive reentry. It was built to withstand a descent through the carbon dioxide-thick atmosphere of Venus, said Langbroek of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Experts doubt the parachute system would work after so many years. The heat shield may also be compromised after so long in orbit. It would be better if the heat shield fails, which would cause the spacecraft to burn up during its dive through the atmosphere, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics' Jonathan McDowell said in an email. But if the heat shield holds, 'it'll reenter intact and you have a half-ton metal object falling from the sky.' The spacecraft could reenter anywhere between 51.7 degrees north and south latitude, or as far north as London and Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, almost all the way down to South America's Cape Horn. But since most of the planet is water, 'chances are good it will indeed end up in some ocean,' Langbroek said. By Marcia Dunn
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Science
- Epoch Times
Soviet-Era Spacecraft Plunges to Earth After 53 Years Stuck in Orbit
A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency's space debris office also tracked the spacecraft's doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station. It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of it might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar system's hottest planet. The chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said. Launched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction. Much of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravity's tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander—an estimated 3 feet across—was the last part of the spacecraft to come down. The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds. Related Stories 5/2/2025 4/20/2025 Any surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty. After following the spacecraft's downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down. Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecraft's deteriorating condition after so long in space. After so much anticipation, some observers were disappointed by the lingering uncertainty over the exact whereabouts of the spacecraft's grave. 'If it was over the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it,' Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said via X. As of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecraft's demise as it collected and analyzed data from orbit. The U.S. Space Command routinely monitors dozens of reentries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart—and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers—was that it was more likely to survive reentry, according to officials. It was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris. By Marcia Dunn
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Soviet-era spacecraft plunges to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit
A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency's space debris office also tracked the spacecraft's doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station. It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of it might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar system's hottest planet. The chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said. Launched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction. Much of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravity's tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander — an estimated 3 feet (1 meter) across — was the last part of the spacecraft to come down. The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000 pounds (495 kilograms). Any surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty. After following the spacecraft's downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down. Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecraft's deteriorating condition after so long in space. After so much anticipation, some observers were disappointed by the lingering uncertainty over the exact whereabouts of the spacecraft's grave. 'If it was over the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it,' Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said via X. As of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecraft's demise as it collected and analyzed data from orbit. The U.S. Space Command routinely monitors dozens of reentries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart — and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers — was that it was more likely to survive reentry, according to officials. It was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press
