A Soviet spacecraft, Kosmos 482, launched in 1972 as part of the Venera program to explore Venus, is believed to have crashed back to Earth early Saturday morning. The European Space Agency (ESA), which was tracking the spacecraft’s uncontrolled descent, last detected it over Germany, concluding that it likely re-entered the atmosphere at that time. Fortunately, no injuries or damage have been reported following the descent.
Kosmos 482, weighing 1,069 pounds and measuring three feet wide, became trapped in Earth’s orbit for fifty-three years after its launch vehicle malfunctioned. During this period, it gradually spiraled closer to Earth until it ultimately re-entered the atmosphere. Space debris returning to Earth is not uncommon; in 2022 alone, over 2,400 artificial objects re-entered, mostly burning up before reaching the surface.
Notably, Kosmos 482 was engineered to withstand the harsh conditions of Venus, where temperatures reach up to 867 degrees Fahrenheit (464 degrees Celsius), suggesting that it was robust enough to survive a re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere. Despite these concerns about space debris, historical data indicates that no fatalities have been caused by such occurrences. ESA officials emphasized the minimal risk associated with satellite re-entries, estimating an individual’s chances of injury from space debris at less than 1 in 100 billion, significantly lower than the likelihood of being struck by lightning.
On Friday, the U.S. Space Force had anticipated the spacecraft would re-enter over the Pacific Ocean, west of Guam. The successful monitoring of its descent highlights ongoing international efforts in tracking space debris and mitigating risks associated with it.
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