Latest news with #Sorge
Mint
11-05-2025
- Science
- Mint
Russian spacecraft crashes back to Earth after 50 years; experts warn, ‘Don't mess with it'
Cosmos 482, an old Soviet spacecraft, likely fell from the sky early Saturday morning, according to the European Space Agency. The space object, also known as Kosmos 482, was sent toward Venus more than 50 years ago to study its environment, but it failed and instead remained trapped in Earth orbit for decades. Cosmos 482 is believed to be a capsule launched by the Soviet Union in March 1972 that failed en route to a transfer orbit that would have taken it to Venus to study its environment. In the decades since its launch, the cylinder-shaped craft of about 3 feet (1 meter) in diameter, circled Earth aimlessly as it was slowly dragged back toward home. Also Read | Should you panic? Old Soviet spacecraft to fall back to Earth after 50 years According to the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, the probe entered the dense layers of the atmosphere around 12 PM India time (2:24 a.m. ET) on Saturday, May 11, splashing down in the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia. The ESA, which was monitoring the falling space junk, also said on its website that radars in Germany did not spot the vehicle around 1 PM IST (3:32 a.m. ET), indicating 'it is most likely that the reentry has already occurred.' Did it burst into flames? Space traffic experts were concerned about Cosmo 483's uncontrolled re-entry to the Earth since it was no longer capable of manoeuvring. However, because of its strong heat shield, it likely did not burn up completely when it reentered Earth's atmosphere. This makes it different from most space junk, which usually breaks apart and burns before hitting the ground. 'This object was designed to survive reentering Venus, so there's fair odds that it'll survive coming back (to Earth) in one piece,' Marlon Sorge, a space debris expert with The Aerospace Corporation, told CNN. 'That actually makes the risk less … because it would stay intact.' Also Read | SpaceX loses contact with Starship 8, viral videos show scattered debris What to do if you spot debris? Marlon Sorge said that if Cosmos 482 had landed on dry ground, onlookers would have been advised to keep their distance. The aged spacecraft could leak dangerous fuels or pose other risks to people and property. 'Contact the authorities,' Sorge urged. 'Please don't mess with it.'
ITV News
08-05-2025
- Science
- ITV News
'Wouldn't want it bashing you on the head': Soviet-era spacecraft to crash back to Earth this week
A Soviet-era spacecraft is due to crash back to Earth this week after it failed to reach Venus more than 50 years ago. The space debris, known as Kosmos 482, is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere sometime around May 10, however, not much is known about the spacecraft, including its size and shape. If the debris is the "entry capsule," like many researchers believe it to be, then it could survive the trip home, posing a small but not zero risk to people on the ground. Dr Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist, said the risk of the object hitting people on the ground is likely minimal, and there's "no need for major concern", but warned "you wouldn't want it bashing you on the head". While most objects, such as meteors and space junk, disintegrate on re-entry due to the Earth's atmosphere, the entry capsule would be equipped with a substantial heat shield, meaning it "might well survive Earth atmosphere entry and hit the ground". "It is quite dense, whatever it is, because it had a very low point in its orbit, yet it didn't decay for decades,' said Marlon Sorge, a space debris expert, 'so it's clearly bowling ball-ish'. The chances of Kosmos 482 causing deadly damage are roughly 1 in 25,000, according to The Aerospace Corporation's calculations, Sorge said. "You have a larger risk of being hit by lightning once in your lifetime," Marco Langbroek, a lecturer and space traffic expert said. If the Kosmos 482 object does hit the ground, it's likely to hit an area that encompasses "the whole of Africa, South America, Australia, the USA, parts of Canada, parts of Europe, and parts of Asia," Mr Langbroek said. 'But as 70% of our planet is water, chances are good that it will end up in an Ocean somewhere," he added. In the mid-1960s, the Soviet Space Institute (IKI) was formed amid the 20th-century space race between the US and USSR. After the US reached the moon in 1969, the IKI turned its attention towards Venus and sent up a series of probes in the 1970s and 80s. Some survived the trip and sent data back to Earth before the programme was stopped. Only one probe managed to land on Venus and operated for 50 minutes on the planet's surface. Another labeled V71 No. 671, launched in 1972, failed to put itself on Venus' trajectory and was stranded closer to home, according to NASA. Several pieces of debris were created from V-71 No. 671's failure, with at least two having already fallen out of orbit, but the cylindrical entry capsule - which NASA has named as Kosmos 482 - is what researchers believe will plummet back to Earth this weekend. 'What goes up must come down,' Mr Sorge said. 'We're here talking about it more than 50 years later, which is another proof point for the importance of debris mitigation and making sure we're having that dialogue (as a space community) because what you put up in space today might affect us for decades to come.'
