2<\/p>\n A Cold War Soviet spaceship is set to crash back into Earth this weekCredit: ESA\/David Ducross 2<\/p>\n The red-zone shows where the spaceship could hit<\/p>\n The failed Venus probe has been stuck in low Earth <\/a>orbit since its launch in 1972.<\/p>\n Marco Langbroek, a lecturer in space situational awareness at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands predicted the landers return in a blog post. <\/a><\/p>\n The spacecraft is expected to hit Earth at a staggering speed of 17,000mph – which Langbroek likened to a meteorite impact.<\/p>\n Soon after its botched launch, Kosmos 482 broke into several pieces.<\/p>\n The probe’s main body\u00a0reentered Earth’s atmosphere\u00a0on 5 May, 1981.<\/p>\n Though the Descent Craft has remained in orbit for almost 53 years, until now, when it appears to be breaking free. <\/p>\n It is just one of roughly 35,000 pieces of space debris<\/a>, measuring more than 10cm in size, which are being tracked by experts. <\/p>\n At 3ft-wide and 495kg in weight, the lander is unlikely to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere on its descent. <\/p>\n Langbroek has mapped out where the hunk of space debris might land. <\/p>\n The projected landing zone covers an enormous area on both sides of the equator.\u00a0<\/p>\n Space Debris Crisis: Running Against the Clock<\/p>\n Kosmos 482 is expected to fall anywhere between latitude\u00a052 degrees north\u00a0and\u00a052 degrees south – which puts London<\/a>, alongside other major cities, from New York<\/a> to Beijing<\/a>, in possible danger.<\/p>\n Also in the red-zone are Australia<\/a>, South America<\/a>, and Africa<\/a>, as well as parts of Europe<\/a>, North America<\/a> and Asia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nobody knows for sure where Kosmos 482 will hit.<\/p>\n What was Kosmos 482?<\/p>\n By Lydia Doye<\/p>\n KOSMOS 482 launched by a Soviet Molniya booster on March 31, 1972, as part of a mission to Venus.<\/strong><\/p>\n The craft successfully made it into an Earth parking orbit, but Soviet scientists failed to launch the probe into its Venus trajectory causing it to break into four pieces.<\/p>\n Two of these chunks remained in a low-Earth orbit and fell onto New Zealand within two days.<\/p>\n The remainder of the craft is now expected to hurtle into the Earth in May at a staggering speed of 17,000mph.<\/p>\n It’s important to note the spacecraft has a significant amount of ocean to plunge safely into. <\/p>\n The odds of the rogue spacecraft hitting a populated area are exceptionally slim. <\/p>\n Most pieces of deorbited space debris land in the sea or unpopulated areas.<\/p>\n Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, said probability that the fall will cause any damage is extremely small.<\/p>\n The Kosmos 482 was previously feared to hit the Earth back in 2019.<\/p>\n Video footage from October 2020 shows the failed spaceship plummeting out of orbit.<\/p>\n The startling footage shows the out-of-control craft hurtling through the sky – headed for Earth.<\/p>\n What is space debris?<\/p>\n Space debris is an umbrella term for any bit of junk, disused equipment and otherwise, that is currently stuck in Earth’s orbit.<\/p>\n![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/failed-soviet-venus-lander-fall-990754821.png\")
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