After 53 Years in Space, Failed Probe Returning to Earth

In March 1972, the Soviet Union sent up a probe to explore the planet Venus. It was a failure. Kosmos 482 never escaped low Earth orbit, where fragments have been circling ever since. Next month will bring a change, however, as the probe is expected to make an uncontrolled reentry into Earth's atmosphere. It's possible the probe, designed to withstand Venus' extreme heat and pressure, might even survive the plunge. It's expected sometime between May 8 and 11, but as EarthSky reports, the reentry date could shift as an increase in sun activity will warm the upper atmosphere and cause more atmospheric drag, "slowing the orbital speed and thus causing the reentry to occur sooner."

You might catch sight of Kosmos 482, a few feet wide and weighing more than 1,000 pounds, around dusk and dawn in the coming days as it gains brightness. Its current orbit indicates reentry will occur "anywhere between latitude 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south," per EarthSky. Astronomer Marco Langbroek, who's been tracking Kosmos 482 for years, notes the probe had a parachute. "But I wouldn't bet on that working now," he tells Space.com, noting that if the probe survives reentry, "it would come down hard" at a speed perhaps topping 145mph. He adds "the risks involved are not particularly high, but not zero ... similar to that of a meteorite impact." (More spacecraft stories.)