The 53-year-old Soviet spacecraft will return to Earth this week

Cosmos 482 has been trapped in the orbit of Earth for 53 years, but its wandering is over. The failed mission of Venus is expected to reappear through the atmosphere in a dramatic fall to its native planet, where it can remain intact or dispel its bits in the still unknown place on both sides of the equator.

The Soviet -era spacecraft will immerse itself through the Earth’s atmosphere sometime between May 8 and 12. Currently, the exact location where space 482 will break to Earth is still unknown, with a preliminary assessment that extends into large parts of the world on both sides of the equator. It is also unclear whether the spacecraft will remain in one piece or break up during re -introduction, raining with pieces of debris.

Kosmos 482 started on March 31, 1972 by Baikonur Cosmodrome cosmodura in what Kazakhstan knows. The mission was an attempt by the Soviet space program to reach Venus, but failed to gain enough speed to enter a transfer trajectory to the burning hot planet. Malfunction has led to an engine burning, which is not enough to get to the orbit of Venus, according to NASAS Since then, the spacecraft has been stuck in an elliptical orbit around Earth. The spacecraft entered a higher orbit measuring 130 by 6 089 miles (210 to 9,800 kilometers).

Astrophotographer Ralph Vandeberg recently filmed spaces of Space 482 in space before his predicted descent and made a note about what seems like a parachute located from the spacecraft. “Nothing is certain at this point,” Vandeberg told Gizmodo in an email. “In 2014, I had the first sign of this in my images, but I did not think seriously about this opportunity. But when I processed the images from 2024, made 10 years later and saw the same, I decided that I should report this opportunity.”

#Cosmos482 Note about the possibility of parachute. Although still speculation, as mentioned above, the technical images are correct. There are no problems with tracking, scope problems and I do not expect a similar effect of atmosperica in images made at a distance of 10 years, if that would be the case. Pic.twitter.com/dicmzqny0z

– Ralph Vandeberg (@ralfvandebergh) May 6, 2025

Even if the open parachute of the spacecraft hangs into space, it is unlikely that it will do its job to slow down space to the ground.

After failing to reach Venus, the spacecraft broke into four different pieces, with two of the smaller fragments appearing over Ashberton, New Zealand, two days after its launch. The two remaining pieces are the support bar and a Lenter probe, which together form a spherical pressure vessel weighing more than £ 1000 (495 kilograms).

Today, it is difficult to determine where the rest of the heat space, which will enter the atmosphere of the Earth again. Its current orbit shows that it should be everywhere between the width of 52 degrees north and 52 degrees to the south, according to Marco Langbrock, satellite tracking, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. This barely narrows it, as this area includes the United States, South America, Africa and Australia and the greater part of Europe and Asia south of the Arctic Circle. The spacecraft landing area will become clearer when it approaches its doomed re -entry.

Another question is how many of it will survive the heat of atmospheric re -introduction. “So wrote In an update of the blog.

Langbrooek offers impact speeds of about 150 miles per hour (242 kilometers per hour) if the landing does not break down or largely burns during re -introduction. The kinetic energy in the impact is similar to that of a meteorite fragment with a length of 15 to 21 inches (40- to 55 centimeter), according to Langbroek.

As our planet is made up mainly of water, the spacecraft is likely to be at the bottom of the ocean bottom. However, the chances of affecting the inhabited area are not zero, so it is some form of risk, especially since the date of re -entry and location remains uncertain.