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12-05-2025
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Soviet-era Kosmos 482 Spacecraft Re-enters Earth's Atmosphere

Date: 12-05-2025
Sources: bbc.com: 1 | cbsnews.com: 1 | news.sky.com: 1
Image for cluster 6
Image Source:

Source: cbsnews.com

Image content: The image depicts a photographic representation of celestial bodies, with the main subject being a specific object labeled "COSMOS 482 DESCENT CRAFT #6073." The content is presented against a dark background, featuring numerous white streaks that represent the movement of various objects across the field of view. A scale bar at the bottom indicates a distance of 5.0 km.

Summary

The Soviet-era spacecraft Kosmos 482, launched in 1972 to explore Venus but stuck in Earth's orbit, likely re-entered the Earth's atmosphere after 53 years, with its titanium-encased lander potentially surviving the descent and crashing to the ground.

Key Points

  • Kosmos 482 re-entered Earth's atmosphere on Saturday, with the European Space Agency and EU Space Surveillance confirming the uncontrolled reentry.
  • The spacecraft broke into four pieces, with the titanium-encased lander, estimated to be around 3 feet in diameter and weighing over 1,000 pounds, potentially surviving the reentry.
  • The exact location of the crash and the amount of debris that survived the descent are unknown, with predicted re-entry locations ranging from the Atlantic to Germany and Australia.

Articles in this Cluster

Kosmos 482: Soviet-era spacecraft 'likely' to have re-entered Earth's atmosphereBritish Broadcasting CorporationBritish Broadcasting Corporation

12-05-2025

A Soviet-era spacecraft, Kosmos 482, which was launched in 1972 to explore Venus but never left Earth's orbit, is likely to have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on Saturday. The spacecraft broke into four pieces, and one fragment, believed to be the lander, is thought to have re-entered at around 06:16 GMT. It's unclear whether the object landed or burned up, but experts say it's unlikely to have caused significant damage due to the low probability of hitting a populated area.

Soviet-era spacecraft plunges back to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit - CBS News

12-05-2025

A Soviet-era spacecraft known as Kosmos 482, which was launched in 1972 to explore Venus but failed to leave Earth's orbit due to a rocket malfunction, reentered the Earth's atmosphere after 53 years. The European Space Agency and EU Space Surveillance confirmed the uncontrolled reentry, but the exact location of the crash and the amount of debris that survived the descent are unknown. The spacecraft's titanium-encased lander, estimated to be around 3 feet in diameter and weighing over 1,000 pounds, was the last part to reenter, and experts believed it could potentially survive the reentry due to its design to withstand Venus' extreme conditions.

Half-tonne piece of Soviet rocket may have crashed through atmosphere over south of England | Science, Climate & Tech News | Sky News

12-05-2025

A half-tonne piece of a Soviet rocket, Cosmos 482, which was intended to reach Venus but became trapped in orbit in 1972, may have crashed through the atmosphere over southern England on Saturday morning. Scientists are still trying to pinpoint its location, with various organizations predicting it re-entered the atmosphere anywhere from the Atlantic to Germany and Australia. The European Space Agency and EU Space Surveillance and Tracking suggest it decayed or broke up during re-entry between 6am and 8:30am. The capsule, which had a heat shield, weighed around half a tonne and was about three feet across, and could have survived the descent, potentially hitting the ground at a couple of hundred miles per hour.