Soviet-era spacecraft once bound for Venus expected to crash to Earth this month

Part of a spacecraft that launched in 1972 and has been orbiting Earth for 53 years is due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in the next two weeks and could crash to the ground intact, scientists say.

The 498.95kg module, known as Kosmos 482, was part of a craft initially bound for Venus when it launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the then-Soviet Union in March 1972, Nasa said in a statement on Friday (local time).

Now it is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere sometime between May 7 and May 13 in an event that is being closely watched by scientists.

Experts believe the module could crash anywhere between the latitudes of 52 degrees north and south of the equator, covering an area from Quebec to Patagonia. They said it is highly unlikely — but not impossible — that it could hit someone.

Venera 8 was one of a pair of Venus atmospheric lander probes designed for the spring 1972 launch window. The other mission (Kosmos 482) failed to leave Earth orbit and is due for re-entry in the next two weeks, scientists think. Photo / Nasa

“It should be visible as a bright fireball when it reenters the atmosphere,” David Williams, head of Nasa’s Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, told the Washington Post in an email, adding that it is difficult to predict whether it will be recoverable, given that it “wasn’t designed for a hard landing”.

“I could imagine that, if parts of it can be recovered, it will be a unique scientific opportunity to examine the very long-term effects of the space environment (radiation, micrometeorites, solar wind particles) on a spacecraft,” he wrote.

The European Space Agency said the landing module is “highly likely” to reach Earth’s surface in one piece.

“The 495kg lander was made to withstand the extremely harsh conditions of Venus’ hostile atmosphere and designed to 300 Gs of acceleration and 100 atmospheres of pressure,” it said in a statement to the Post on Friday.

Victoria Craw is a breaking news reporter and editor in The Washington Post’s London Hub.