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Replica of the Soviet probe worships 4; In the background, the land (assembly)
After 53 years in orbit, the Soviet spacecraft Kosmos-482 returned to Earth, entering the planet’s atmosphere at 9:24 am on Saturday, Moscow time.
According to the Russian space agency, the Kosmos-482 It fell in the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia. Designed to land on the surface of Venus, the probe may have remained intact For A is.
Kosmos-482 was launched on March 31, 1972, but was arrested in the orbit of Earth after one of its propellers was turned off prematurely. He has since walked to wander around our planet.
The return of the spacecraft to Earth brings to memory the fierce competition between Russian and American space programs, during the Cold War, which fueled the dream that land powers could be Design for the solar systemnote or.
“This remembers a time when the Soviet Union was adventurous in space – where perhaps We were all more adventurous In space, ”said Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center, which tracks objects thrown into orbit.It’s a little bittersweetin that regard”.
For over 50 years, on March 31, 1972, the Soviet Union launched a pair of space probes intended for venus.
While the Venus 8 Successfully arrived at his destination, his sister Kosmos 482 It was not so lucky: a problem in the Soyuz rocket that transported it prevented the probe from the orbit of the earth. The remains of the probe, inactive for a long time, have since surrounded our planet.
In the moments immediately before impact the probe should have reached speeds of only about 240 km/h. It is possible that the probe debris may have set on fire during the atmospheric reentry, but it is not certain that this happens-precisely due to the objectives of the probe’s original mission.
“As it is a landing module that It was designed to survive to pass through the atmosphere of Venus, It is possible that survive intact reentry through the atmosphere of the earth and reaches the ground intact, ”recently the satellite observer and former Dutch archaeologist Marco Langbroek.
