Russia: A failed Soviet-era spacecraft that had been circling Earth for over five decades made its fiery return to the planet this weekend, marking the end of one of the longest accidental orbits in space history.
The Kosmos 482 probe, launched in 1972 as part of the Soviet Union’s Venera program to explore Venus, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 2:24 AM ET (11:54 AM IST) on Saturday, crashing into the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Originally intended for a mission to Venus, Kosmos 482 was stranded in a highly elliptical Earth orbit after a rocket malfunction prevented it from escaping Earth’s gravity.
Over the next 53 years, the probe’s orbit gradually decayed under the pull of Earth’s gravity, culminating in an uncontrolled re-entry that was closely monitored by global space agencies.
Experts had warned in advance that Kosmos 482’s descent was difficult to predict, partly due to the spacecraft’s age and partly due to recent fluctuations in solar activity that affected its orbit. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Debris Office confirmed the re-entry but noted that no visual confirmations or ground impact reports had yet been received.
“We have not received any reports so far on visual direct observations of the final re-entry, or on any impacts on the ground,” said ESA officials.
The probe’s final descent drew considerable attention from the global scientific community. Unlike most decommissioned satellites that are steered toward a safe crash zone typically the Pacific Ocean Kosmos 482 descended without control or trajectory adjustments.
Designed to endure the extreme heat and pressure of Venus, the probe’s lander was built to last. The lander module, a robust titanium sphere measuring roughly one meter in diameter and weighing over 1,000 pounds (around 495 kilograms), was the final major component to remain in orbit. Most of the spacecraft’s other parts had already deorbited within a decade of the failed launch.
Because of its rugged construction, scientists suspected that some or all of the landers could survive re-entry. However, as of now, it is unclear whether any debris from Kosmos 482 made it to Earth’s surface. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty stipulates that any surviving wreckage would be the legal property of Russia.
