Kosmos 482 Crash Alert: When and Where Can Soviet Spacecraft Landing Today | World News
Soviet-era spacecraft, Universe 482 (also spelled Kosmos 482), is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and collapse on Saturday. Originally in March 1972 as part of a mission to explore Venus, the spacecraft aims to make a soft landing and study the atmosphere of the Earth. However, the mission failed, putting the spacecraft in Earth’s orbit for more than 50 years.
When and where does it collapse?
According to CNN, Universe 482 is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere between 10 pm ET on Friday and 6:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. The European Space Agency tracker provides more precise estimates, and the forecast decline will occur around 2:30 a.m. ET (UTC) on Saturday.
According to media reports, Cosmos 482 may go to the south latitude of 52 degrees north to 52 degrees, which covers a large part of the area. This range includes regions across North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Due to the wide range of potentially impacted areas, it is still very difficult to accurately predict the exact crash site.
Vishnu Reddy, a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, said most objects that re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere would collapse. However, Universe 482 is an exception. “This is a lander designed to survive on Venus, with an atmosphere that is 100 times denser than Earth. It is designed for extremely harsh conditions,” Reddy told the Arizona family.
Due to its durable construction, some parts of the spacecraft may survive re-entering, although the risk to people on the ground is considered low.
“Hopefully, most of it burns in the Earth’s atmosphere. Even if any debris penetrates, it can fall into the ocean and be forgotten,” Reddy added. “You have to be very unfortunate to be hit by it.”
