A Soviet spacecraft named Kosmos 482, which has been circling Earth for more than 50 years, is finally expected to come back down to Earth. It was launched way back on March 31, 1972, with the goal of reaching Venus. But something went wrong soon after takeoff.
The timer on the spacecraft didn’t work properly. Because of this glitch, the engine turned off too early, and the spacecraft couldn’t leave Earth’s orbit. So instead of heading to Venus, it stayed stuck in space, orbiting Earth all this time.
For over five decades, Kosmos 482 remained in orbit, ignored and left among the growing number of space junk. But that’s about to change. Space experts say the spacecraft will reenter Earth’s atmosphere sometime between May 8 and May 11, 2025.
The exact date of its return depends on the Sun’s activity. When the Sun becomes more active, it heats up Earth’s upper atmosphere, making it expand. This slows down satellites and other objects, like Kosmos 482, and causes them to fall back to Earth sooner than expected.
Kosmos 482 is expected to reenter without any control from Earth, which means no one can guide where it will land. But scientists think it will come down somewhere between 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south latitude, a big area that mostly includes oceans.
The landing module weighs about 495 kilograms and is about 3.2 feet wide. After it slows down due to the atmosphere, it will still be moving at around 242 kilometers per hour when it lands. That’s fast, but because Earth is mostly covered in water, experts believe it will likely fall into the ocean.
Some scientists have raised concerns. Kosmos 482 was designed in a similar way to the Venera mission landers, which were meant to survive extreme conditions on Venus. That means it’s built to be very tough. Parts of it could make it to the surface without burning up in the atmosphere.
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