Stuck In Orbit For 53 Years, Failed Soviet-Era Spacecraft Crashes To Earth

 

Hyderabad : A failed Soviet-era spacecraft crashed to Earth this weekend after circling the planet for more than five decades. The Kosmos 482 probe was sent to Venus in 1972 as part of the Soviet Union's Venera program. However, a problem with its rocket stranded the spacecraft in an elliptical orbit around Earth. Over the course of 53 years, Earth's gravitational force pulled the probe down slowly, leading to its plunge on Saturday. The re-entry of the spacecraft occurred at 2:24 AM ET or 11:54 AM IST over the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta and Indonesia, according to the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos.

 

While other space agencies and tracking organisations confirmed the uncontrolled re-entry of Kosmos 482, they weren't sure of the precise location. After the spacecraft's doom failed to appear over a German radar station, the European Space Agency's space debris office tracked the spacecraft. "We have not received any reports so far on visual direct observations of the final re-entry, or on any impacts on the ground, ESA's Space Debris Office said. It was not immediately clear how much of the half-ton spacecraft — if any — survived its fiery descent from orbit. Experts had warned in advance that some, if not all, of it could crash back to Earth, as it was designed to endure a landing on Venus, the hottest planet in the solar system.

 

Scientists emphasised that the chances of anyone being struck by falling debris were extremely low. Launched by the Soviet Union in 1972, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions intended for Venus. However, due to a rocket malfunction, it never left Earth's orbit and became stranded. Much of the spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere and fell back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch.

 

The last component to come down was the spherical lander, roughly 3 feet (1 metre) in diameter. No longer able to resist Earth’s gravity as its orbit decayed, it eventually descended. Experts say the lander, encased in titanium, weighed over 1,000 pounds (around 495 kilograms). Any surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty. Despite close monitoring, scientists and experts couldn’t predict exactly when or where the Kosmos 482 spacecraft would re-enter due to solar activity and its deteriorated state. The lack of clarity disappointed some observers. Unlike most reentries, Kosmos 482 drew special attention because it was likely to survive and was descending uncontrollably, without guidance toward a safe area like the Pacific Ocean.