Soviet-era spacecraft is set to plunge to Earth a half-century after its failed launch to Venus

A spacecraft from the Soviet era, designed to touchdown on Venus in the 1970s, is anticipated to fall uncontrollably back towards Earth shortly. Earth .

It's too soon to determine where the 500-kilogram chunk of metal might land upon re-entry or how much of it will remain intact, say specialists who track orbital debris.

Dutch Scientist Marco Langbroek forecasts that the malfunctioning spacecraft will likely re-enter around May 10. He calculates that it could crash with speeds of approximately 150 mph (242 kph) should it stay intact.

"Although there are risks involved, we shouldn’t be overly concerned," Langbroek stated in an email.

The object is fairly small, and whether it disintegrates or not, "the danger is akin to that posed by a typical meteorite, which we experience several times annually," he explained. "In fact, you're more likely to be struck by lightning at some point in your life."

He mentioned that the likelihood of the spacecraft actually colliding with anything or anyone is minimal. "However, one can never entirely rule out this possibility," he cautioned.

The Soviet The Union dispatched the space vehicle named Kosmos 482 in 1972 as part of a sequence of Venus exploration efforts. However, due to a rocket failure, it remained trapped within Earth’s orbit and did not proceed with its intended mission.

Much of it collapsed within a decade. However, Langbroek and others think that the landing capsule — a sphere roughly 3 feet (1 metre) across — has been circulating around Earth in an extremely elongated orbit for the last 53 years, slowly losing height over time.

There’s a good chance that the spacecraft, weighing over 1,000 pounds (almost 500 kilograms), could endure re-entry. According to Langbroek from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, it was designed to handle descending through Venus’ thick carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Experts I doubt the parachute system would function properly after all these years. The heat shield might have degraded over such an extended period in orbit as well.

Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics stated in an email that it would be preferable if the heat shield malfunctions, leading to the spacecraft burning up as it plunges through the atmosphere. However, should the heat shield remain functional, he warned, "it will survive re-entry and result in a half-tonne metallic projectile descending from above."

The space vehicle might re-enter at latitudes ranging from 51.7 degrees north to south, which encompasses areas as northerly as London and Edmonton in Alberta. Canada , nearly reaching South America’s Cape Horn. However, as most of Earth is covered by water, "there is a high probability that it will ultimately land in one of the oceans," according to Langbroek.

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