Latest news with #Vandebergh
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute may be out
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. That soon-to-reenter Cosmos 482 is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details. The former Soviet Union's Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. But that country's attempted Venus probe ran amuck during its rocket-assisted toss to the cloud-veiled world. Payload leftovers were marooned in Earth orbit, specifically the spacecraft's lander module/capsule intended to parachute onto the hellish landscape of Venus. "As this is a lander that was designed to survive passage through the Venus atmosphere, it is possible that it will survive reentry through the Earth atmosphere intact, and impact intact," reported Marco Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands. "There are many uncertain factors in this though, including that this will be a long shallow reentry trajectory and the age of the object," observes Langbroek, who now pegs the current nominal forecast for its reentry on May 10, plus/minus 2.2 days. Meanwhile, satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands, has snagged a first set of images of only the capsule in Earth orbit. "We see a clear compact ball! This set is already fantastic, I think," he said. Those first set of high resolution images, Vandebergh said, are compared to a Starlink satellite bus in operational orbit. He notes that Cosmos 482 is roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) closer than the Starlink bus which, according to data, is around 1.3 meters by 2.7 meters. Vandebergh said he is stunned by what he is seeing on collected imagery frames. "Several frames seems 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 added. He has speculated in the past it was possible that this might be the parachute that came out. "It is not impossible that the object is tumbling," Vandebergh notes, "so the chute would be sometimes visible," assuming that it is the chute. He cautioned that more time is needed to better analyze what's showing up in the imagery. That best analysis of the imagery is a work in progress, Vandebergh concluded, so stay tuned!
India Today
06-05-2025
- Science
- India Today
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 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 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 He cautioned that more time is needed to better analyse what's showing up in the 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 crash is likely to take place on May 10 based on the current trajectory of 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 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 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.
