Soviet space debris: Kosmos 482 expected to crash in May
A piece of the Soviet probe Kosmos 482, which has been orbiting Earth for over 50 years, may soon enter the atmosphere. This probe, launched in 1972 on a mission to Venus, remained in orbit due to a rocket failure and will soon fall to Earth. The key questions are: where and when will it fall?
The Kosmos 482 probe was launched by the USSR in 1972 as part of a mission to gather data from the surface of Venus. However, not everything went according to plan. A malfunction in the upper stage of the carrier rocket prevented the probe from leaving Earth's orbit, causing it to break into several pieces.
Kosmos 482 will return to Earth. Sort of
Some fragments of the Kosmos 482 probe re-entered Earth's atmosphere in the 1980s, but other components, including a lander weighing 1,091 pounds and about 3 feet in size, are gradually descending to lower layers of orbit. According to Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek, this fragment may soon fall to Earth, as reported by The Verge.
The problem is that it is unclear where exactly the fragment will fall or if it will burn up in the atmosphere before impact. Langbroek notes that the lander was designed to survive entry into Venus's atmosphere, where the average temperature is around 867 degrees Fahrenheit.
When will this happen?
Technically, the fragment of the probe may survive entry into Earth's atmosphere and land in an unspecified location. The descent will be uncontrolled, and the lander's parachute systems will likely not function after so many years in space. Nevertheless, the probability of someone being hit is small, but not zero, the scientist emphasizes.
The expected impact speed is 214-229 feet per second (approximately 150 mph). When will the fragment of the Kosmos 482 probe enter the atmosphere? It is predicted to occur around May 10.
