When the Soviet Union launched an unmanned spacecraft called Kosmos 482 in March 1972, it was supposed to hurtle through space and travel all the way to Venus — 41 million miles away.
Instead, it broke up into pieces soon after leaving the Earth’s atmosphere, and what’s left of Kosmos 482 has been stuck in a low-Earth orbit ever since.
Now 53 years later, the craft is expected to reenter the atmosphere at some point during a four-day window next month, EarthSky reported, and maybe crash-land into an unknown location.
The latest projections peg the 1,000-pound spacecraft’s reentry between May 8 and May 11. A complicating factor is that Kosmos 482 was designed to withstand the extreme heat and pressure of Venus, and so the module might not burn up upon reentry but instead hold together and crash into Earth.
In the coming days, Kosmos 482 might be visible in the sky around the dusk and dawn hours, EarthSky reported, and it could become a bit brighter closer to the reentry date.
As scientists continue to monitor Kosmos 482, check back for updates in the coming days.
— Joel Odom writes about trending topics in news, life and culture, and sports. Reach him at 503-221-8594, jodom@oregonian.com or @jkodom on Blue Sky.