A Cold War-era spacecraft originally destined to go to Venus and left in Earth’s orbit could be making a fiery return trip.
The Kosmos 482 Descent Craft spacecraft is expected to crash down on Earth at 12:37 a.m. EDT on May 10, according to Marco Langbroek, a lecturer on space situational awareness at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands, in a blog post.
NASA similarly estimated the timeframe for when Kosmos 482 could crash land, with the wider window of between May 9 and May 11.
The Soviet Union launched Kosmos 482 in 1972 to explore Venus but failed to exit Earth’s orbit, where it has remained since, Langbroek wrote. Given that it was intended to survive Venus’ harsh atmosphere, it’s expected to withstand its fiery plummet back to Earth.
The probe likely had an engine burn that caused it to malfunction, according to NASA. Without enough velocity, it has remained hovering over Earth and decaying for 53 years.
“It likely will be a hard impact: I doubt the parachute deployment system will still work after 53 years and with dead batteries,” Langbroek wrote.
The Soviet Union named spacecraft “Kosmos” if they were launched and failed to exit Earth’s orbit, remaining suspended in Earth’s orbit, NASA stated.
So where could Kosmos 482 land? It’s estimated to land between 52 degrees north longitude and 53 degrees south latitude, AccuWeather wrote. This covers all of South America, Africa and Australia, and most of North America and Asia.
But most of this stretch of the globe is covered in water, so it could likely land in the ocean, according to AccuWeather.
While Longbroek was unsure where the probe could land, NASA stated that it should be better known closer to the timeframe of reentry.
