A fragment of an old Soviet mission to Venus is set to re-enter the atmosphere, raising concerns — albeit small — about potential damage
A fragment of an old Soviet spacecraft, launched more than half a century ago, is about to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere in the coming weeks — and it will do so at a speed of about 27,000 km/h.
To give an idea, that’s almost as fast as someone rushing to the buffet as soon as it’s announced at a British party.
The artifact in question is part of the Kosmos 482, a spacecraft launched by the former Soviet Union in 1972 with the goal of reaching Venus. However, the mission failed, and the vehicle never left Earth’s low orbit.
Some pieces of this spacecraft have already fallen to Earth in the past. On one occasion, titanium metal spheres landed on a farm in New Zealand, burning crops. At the time, the Soviets claimed they knew nothing about the incident.
Now, what remains of Kosmos 482 continues to orbit the planet, and according to Space.com, its landing module is expected to make an “uncontrolled re-entry” between May 9 and 10.
During its fall, the object is expected to slow down due to the atmosphere, but since it was built to withstand the extreme conditions of Venus’ surface, it is unlikely to fully disintegrate.
For reference, Kosmos 482’s sister spacecraft, Venera 8, managed to land on Venus and survived for about 50 minutes before being destroyed.
In other words, it’s quite possible that part of the spacecraft survives re-entry and reaches the ground — the question is: where?
According to Forbes, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell estimates that the chance of the object hitting someone is approximately 1 in 10,000. In other words, it would be an incredible stroke of bad luck.
Still, the impact could resemble that of a meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013: broken windows, building damage, and a fragment that was eventually found at the bottom of a lake.
Fortunately, with 70% of Earth’s surface covered by oceans and much of the landmass uninhabited, the probability of serious damage or someone being hit remains quite low.
Source and images: Lad Bible / Creative Commons. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
