Spatial save of the Soviet era falls to Earth after 53 years in orbit

A spacecraft of the Soviet era fell to Earth on Saturday, more than half a century after its failed launch to Venus.

The Russian Space Agency and the Spatial Surveillance and Monitoring Program of the European Union confirmed the re -entry of the ship. The Russians indicated that it fell on the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The Space Waste Office of the European Space Agency also followed the fate of the ship after it did not appear on a German radar station.

So far, it is ignored how much of the medium ton spacecraft survived the burning descent from the orbit. Experts previously said that a part, if not all, could crash, since it was built to withstand a landing in Venus, the hottest planet in the solar system.

The chances of someone being beaten by the remains of the spacecraft were extremely low, scientists said.

Launched in 1972 by the Soviet Union, the spacecraft, known as Kosmos 482, was part of a series of missions destined for Venus. But this never left the orbit of the earth, being stranded there due to the malfunction of a rocket.

A large portion of the spacecraft returned to Earth in the decade after the failed launch. Not being able to resist the attraction of gravity as its orbit decreased, the spherical landing module – approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in diameter – was the last part of the ship to fall. This module was clad in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 495 kilograms (1,000 pounds).

Any rest that can be rescued will belong to Russia, according to a United Nations treaty.

After monitoring the descending spiral of the spacecraft, scientists, military experts and other people could not specify exactly when or where the ship could fall. Solar activity added uncertainty, as well as the deterioration of the ship after spending so much time in space.

After such anticipation, some observers felt disappointed by the persistent uncertainty about the exact whereabouts of the spacecraft tomb.

“If it was about the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it,” said Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek through X.

Until Saturday afternoon, the United States space command had not yet confirmed the disappearance of the spacecraft while collecting and analyzing data from orbit.

The United States Space Command routinely monitors dozens of re -entry to Earth every month. What distinguished Kosmos 482 – and made additional attention of government and private space trackers – was that it was more likely to survive its re -entry, according to authorities.

Likewise, it re -entered into an uncontrolled way, without any intervention of flight controllers that normally point to the Pacific and other vast water extensions for old satellites and other space waste.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.