Defunct Soviet Probe is Set to Crash-Land on Earth After Spending 53 Years in Space

The Verge
The chance of getting hit by a Soviet spacecraft goes up next week

It’s currently unclear where it will fall, or if the space junk will burn up before impact, but as Langbroek notes in his blog: “this is a lander that was designed to survive passage through the Venus atmosphere,” the surface of which sits at an average of 867 degrees Fahrenheit (464 degrees Celsius), so there’s a chance it will survive reentry. The descent will also be uncontrolled, as there are significant doubts that the lander’s parachute deployment system will still work after all these years. The real-world likelihood of actually being hit by Kosmos 482 is astronomically slim. “The risk is similar to that of a random meteorite fall, several of which happen each year,” Langbroek told The Guardian. “You run a bigger risk of getting hit by lightning in your lifetime.”

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The Verge
AP NEWS
Soviet-era spacecraft is set to plunge to Earth a half-century after its failed launch to Venus

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 (242 kph), if it remains intact. “While not without risk, we should not be too worried,” Langbroek said in an email.

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AP NEWS
New York Post
Failed Soviet satellite is falling back to Earth—scientists warn car-sized probe could be deadly

It’s not just asteroids that are threatening to rock our world. A defunct Soviet satellite is slated to hurtle back to Earth next week, prompting concerns from space experts that we could potentially be in the line of fire. The unit “might well survive Earth atmosphere entry and hit the ground,” warned British-American astronomer Jonathan McDowell in a blog post. “In which case, I expect it’ll have the usual one-in-several-thousand chance of hitting someone.” Launched in March 1972 by the USSR, the Kosmos 482 probe was dispatched to gather data from Venus’ inhospitable surface, Livescience reported. However, due to a malfunction with one of the rocket boosters, the intergalactic recon machine was left stranded in Earth’s orbit — literally spiraling out of control. The dead spacecraft — which is around the size of a car — is now on track for reentry sometime between May 7 and 13, give or take a few days.

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New York Post
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News Results

Kosmos 482: Soviet Union's Failed Venus Probe Is About To Slam Into Earth
Between 1961 and 1984, the Soviet Union launched a series of space probes in order to study the second-closest planet to the Sun. The overall program was a resounding success, with Venera 3 becoming the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet on March 1, 1966. One probe, launched in 1972, failed to make it to its target, earning it the name Kosmos 482.
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A Soviet Spacecraft Is About to Crash Back to Earth After Being Stuck in Orbit for 53 Years
The Cosmos 482 lander was intended to reach Venus, but it has instead been circling Earth since 1972. The Soviet Union’s Venera 8 spacecraft became the second ever to land on Venus. It operated for 50 minutes before succumbing to the intense heat. It's currently impossible to predict exactly when the probe will re-enter the atmosphere.
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Soviet-era spacecraft is set to plunge to Earth a half-century after its failed launch to Venus
A Soviet-era spacecraft meant to land on Venus in the 1970s is expected to soon plunge uncontrolled back to Earth. Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek predicts the failed spacecraft will reenter around May 10. He estimates it will come crashing in at 150 mph (242 kph), if it remains intact.
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Kosmos 482: Decades-old Soviet spacecraft still orbiting Earth may crash back around May 10
Kosmos 482 was launched in 1972 as part of the USSR’s ambitious Venera programme. A rocket malfunction left it stranded in Earth orbit. It split into four parts after a failed attempt to reach a Venus transfer trajectory. The lander module, built to survive Venus’ hostile atmosphere, remained in orbit for over 50 years.
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Soviet Spacecraft Set To Crash Into Earth in May
Kosmos 482 launched on March 31, 1972, as part of the Soviet Union's ambitious Venera program to explore Venus. Due to a rocket malfunction shortly after launch, the spacecraft never made it out of Earth's orbit. Now, 53 years later, its descent module will finally return home.
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Soviet-era spacecraft expected to plunge uncontrolled to Earth next week
Kosmos 482, weighing 500kg, was meant to land on Venus in the 1970s but it never made it out of orbit because of a rocket malfunction
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A defunct Soviet probe from the 70s will crash to Earth next week
The Kosmos 482 mission was intended to land on Venus but a malfunction during its launch meant that the spacecraft never made it out of Earth’s orbit. Now, astronomers who have been tracking the object have calculated that it will crash to Earth next week, around May 10. Uncontrolled re-entries are a problem because they are unpredictable.
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Soviet-era spacecraft is set to plunge to Earth a half-century after its failed launch to Venus
Soviet-era spacecraft is set to plunge to Earth a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. Read unlimited articles for free today. Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only $1 for the first 4 weeks. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.
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Doomed Soviet satellite from 1972 will tumble uncontrollably to Earth next week — and it could land almost anywhere
Doomed Soviet satellite from 1972 will tumble uncontrollably to Earth next week — and it could land almost anywhere. The lander section of the Kosmos 482 probe was launched in 1972 and designed to survive on Venus. A malfunction in the upper stage of the Soyuz rocket booster that lofted it skyward scuppered its mission.
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New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute may be out
New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute may be out. New imagery provides some interesting details. The former Soviet Union's Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. The spacecraft's lander module/capsule intended to parachute onto the hellish landscape of Venus.
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A dead Soviet space probe from 1972 is falling back to Earth
A Soviet space probe from 1972 is falling back to Earth. Kosmos 482 is due to begin its descent on or around May 10. It could reentry between the 52N and 52S latitudes (basically anywhere as far north as the United Kingdom and as far south as New Zealand)
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