In 1972, the Soviet Union launched the Kosmos 482 lander, a spacecraft designed to reach Venus and land on its surface. The craft never reached Venus, however. The rocket that launched it suffered an anomaly, stranding the probe in an elliptical orbit around Earth where it has remained for over 50 years.
That five-decade stay in space could come to an end today. Kosmos 482 is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and possibly crash somewhere on the surface of the planet. The probe consists of a 3.3-foot-wide (1-meter-wide) titanium shell lined with thermal insulation, designed to withstand the heat of entry into Venus’ atmosphere. The craft weighs about 1,190 pounds (495 kilograms).
You can follow the re-entry path here.
Bumped for splashdown!
The Kosmos 482 probe crashed to Earth today (May 10) after circling our planet for more than five decades. Reentry occurred at 2:24 a.m. ET (0624 GMT or 9:24 a.m. Moscow time) over the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Kosmos 482 appears to have fallen harmlessly into the sea.
That looks like it is headed for Southern Alberta….
Please don’t land on my car.
Look out below – Canada!!
I knew those “Duck and cover!” drills in the ’60s would come in handy someday.
Looks like there’s a chance it could hit Washington D.C. Everyone keep your fingers crossed. We could get lucky.
Now that would be kind of poetic.. 1970’s USSR dropping something on 2020’s swampy D.C.
I hope it lands on land somewhere where it can be recovered, and put in a museum.
Got the trampoline set up in the backyard.
I sure hope it doesn’t land on Springfield, the townsfolk had enough stress when a comet landed there last time, LOL
Just my luck if it lands on the roof of my house. However, I think insurance will cover it.
…so robust…it’s going to land in one piece…
The dj is on it:
https://youtu.be/Z2dcVIEQwEE?si=MYKfwQdgsRrL50X0
Pencil still beat space pen, Commies?
I remember a Six Million Dollar man episode where a Russian Venus probe landed in the States accidentally. Where is Steve Austin to help us now?
So did I… Those Russian hunter killer Venus probes were really something!!!
https://youtu.be/OvJkWrXRhUU?si=ozS1gAoEraZTzFWb
I pick Sodom-on-Rideau…
Maybe Pope Bob can say a prayer for Earth.
Pope Bob has already blamed Putin … oh, and MAGA Trump supporters who don’t want any aliens entering the “American” atmosphere…
Harmlessly? What about the fish?
It’s gonna make a nice artificial reef … where the nearby fish will grow to 3x their normal size
… and get three eyes
The shuttle went up numerous times with the famed Canadian yet no one thought maybe we should collect some of the orbiting junk instead of doing irrelevant ‘jobs’ with it.
Rats, it crashed in the Pacific. Too bad it wasn’t Mecca.