Failed Soviet spacecraft crashes back to Earth after 53 years

A Soviet-era spacecraft designed to make a soft landing on Venus — but which remained stuck in Earth's orbit for decades — fell from the sky early Saturday (10) , according to the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.

The cylinder-shaped craft, about 1 meter in diameter, entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at around 9:24 am Moscow time (3:24 am Brasília time) this Saturday, falling into the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to information from the Russian agency.

The object is believed to be the Cosmos 482 capsule – or Kosmos 482 – launched by the Soviet Union in March 1972 , which failed en route to a transfer orbit that would have taken it to Venus to study its environment.

For decades, the object has circled Earth aimlessly, slowly being dragged back home . Astronomers and space traffic experts have been watching the object for years as its orbital trajectory drops to ever lower altitudes, the result of the subtle atmospheric drag that exists even hundreds of miles away from Earth.

Experts told CNN that this particular piece of space junk did not pose a substantial risk to people on the ground. But it has attracted international attention due to Cosmos 482's unique story.

“This object was designed to survive entry into Venus, so there’s a good chance it could survive the return trip in one piece,” Marlon Sorge, a space debris expert at the U.S. Aerospace Corporation, said Monday. “That actually makes it less of a risk … because it would remain intact.”

Surviving Earth Re-Entry

Often, when space junk is hurled back toward Earth, objects like parts of decommissioned rockets are torn apart by shocking physics as they can collide with Earth's thick inner atmosphere while still traveling at over 17,000 miles per hour.

Each of the pieces of the rocket part can then pose a threat to the area where it lands.

But Cosmos 482 is uniquely suited to make the trip home in one piece. The spacecraft has a substantial heat shield that protects the vehicle from the intense temperatures and pressures that can build up during reentry.

And because Cosmos 482 is designed to reach the surface of Venus — where the atmosphere is 90 times denser than Earth's — the probe will likely reach the ground intact.

The Soviet Venera Program

The Soviet Space Research Institute, or IKI, carried out a groundbreaking Venus exploration program amid the 20th century space race.

Venera, as the program was called, sent a series of probes toward Venus in the 1970s and 1980s, with several spacecraft surviving the trip and transmitting data back to Earth before ceasing operations.

Of the two Venera vehicles that were launched in 1972, however, only one reached Venus.

The other, a spacecraft sometimes cataloged as V-71 No. 671, did not. Which is why researchers believe the object space traffic experts are tracking is Cosmos 482. (Starting in the 1960s, Soviet vehicles left in Earth orbit were given the name Cosmos and a numerical designation for tracking purposes, according to NASA.)

What to do if you spot space debris

While a dry landing would be unlikely, it is not impossible. Cosmos 482’s trajectory showed it could hit anywhere within a wide swath of land that includes “all of Africa, South America, Australia, the U.S., parts of Canada, parts of Europe and parts of Asia,” Marco Langbroek, a professor and space traffic expert at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said in an email.

Sorge stressed that if Cosmos 482 were to hit the ground after its final descent tonight, observers would be advised to keep their distance. The aging spacecraft could leak dangerous fuels or pose other risks to people and property.

“Contact the authorities,” Sorge said. “Please don’t mess with this.”

Legally speaking, the object also belongs to Russia. Under the rules mapped out in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty — which remains the main document underpinning international law on the subject — the nation that launched an object into space retains ownership and responsibility for it, even if it falls back to Earth decades after launch.

The big picture

Although inoperable objects left behind in space routinely fall out of orbit, most fragments disintegrate completely during the process of re-entry to Earth.

But the world is in the midst of a new space race , with commercial companies like SpaceX launching hundreds of new satellites into orbit each year. This burst of activity has raised alarms in the space traffic community as experts seek to ensure that objects do not collide in space or pose a risk to humans if they make an uncontrolled descent back home.

Safety standards have improved dramatically since the 20th century space race, when the Soviet Venus probe was launched, noted Parker Wischik, a spokesman for The Aerospace Corporation.

Still, incidents like the Cosmos 482 impact event are a stark reminder.

“What goes up must come down,” Wishik said. “What you put into space today can affect us for decades to come.”