The Soviet space program had a lot of hope riding on the Cosmos 482 mission when it launched in March 1972. The mission included a lander destined for Venus. The spacecraft never made it out of Earth orbit — and now it’s coming home, but not in a good way.
The lander probe is expected back around May 10. Should you be worried?
«Because the probe was designed to withstand entry into the Venus atmosphere, it is possible the probe (or parts of it) will survive reentry at Earth and reach the surface,» NASA said.
Also known as Kosmos 482, the lander probe weighed in at over 1,000 pounds at launch and was stocked with instruments designed to study the hellish surface of the second planet from the sun.
The mission hit a rough patch after reaching Earth orbit and separating into four pieces, two of which quickly decayed out of orbit. The lander probe and the upper-stage engine unit went into a higher orbit. «It is thought that a malfunction resulted in an engine burn which did not achieve sufficient velocity for the Venus transfer and left the payload in this elliptical Earth orbit,» NASA said.
The lander probe has been on a long, slow path back to Earth for decades, and the time of reunion is almost here. The potential reentry window stretches from May 7-13. We don’t have a precise time or location. Cosmos 482 will have an uncontrolled reentry, so it will be hard to predict its path.
Water covers about 71% of Earth’s surface, so any Cosmos 482 pieces that survive the fiery atmospheric reentry process have a good chance of landing harmlessly in the ocean. However, there’s a possibility of debris ending up on land.
This isn’t cause for panic. Science educator Marco Langbroek is tracking Cosmos 482 and posting reentry forecasts on his blog. «The risks involved are not particularly high, but not zero,» he wrote, saying the risks are similar to that of a meteorite impact.
So go ahead and keep an eye on Cosmos 482’s journey, but don’t book an underground bunker because of it.
