{"id":53457,"date":"2025-04-27T00:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T00:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/53457\/"},"modified":"2025-04-27T00:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T00:46:09","slug":"a-spacecraft-from-the-1970s-could-crash-land-on-earth-in-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/53457\/","title":{"rendered":"A spacecraft from the 1970s could crash-land on Earth in May"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Soviet spacecraft that has been circling Earth for over 50 years is set to reenter the planet\u2019s atmosphere next month and could crash into Earth\u2019s surface, according to EarthSky.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kosmos 482<\/a> launched on March 31, 1972, charting a course for the planet Venus, according to the astronomy website. The 3.2-foot-wide, 1,091-pound landing module successfully established a temporary orbit around Earth, but a problem with a timer stopped an engine burn too early, preventing it from being able to leave the planet\u2019s orbit. <\/p>\n

After 53 years, the spacecraft is expected to reenter Earth\u2019s atmosphere sometime between May 8 and 11, according to EarthSky.org. The astronomy website will predict a more precise reentry date in the coming days. <\/p>\n

While it is unlikely that Kosmos 482 will reenter Earth\u2019s atmosphere over a populated area or even over land at all, since it was built to withstand rapid acceleration, extreme heat and high pressure, most of it could reach the planet\u2019s surface \u2014 even if it\u2019s not intact, according to EarthSky.org.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft may be visible around dawn and dusk in some areas as it continues to orbit Earth, according to the astronomy website. It would look like a dim, moving satellite. <\/p>\n

In the unlikely event that Kosmos 482 reenters Earth\u2019s atmosphere above your location, it will be visible, according to EarthSky.org. The spacecraft would look like a bright and slow meteor. <\/p>\n

EarthSky.org will share more information on Kosmos 482\u2019s reentry in the coming days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Soviet spacecraft that has been circling Earth for over 50 years is set to reenter the planet\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[28514,70,28515,413,24351,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-53457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-kosmos-482","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-soviet","11":"tag-space","12":"tag-spacecraft","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114407171643348230","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}