A forgotten Soviet probe sent to Venus 52 years ago will fall on earth

The Kosmos 482 spacecraft was launched on March 31, 1972 by the Soviet Union to explore the planet Venus. But due to a problem on the top floor of the rocket, the probe has never reached its destination and has remained blocked around the earth. A little over 53 years later, she will end up falling back to our planet uncontrolled, between May 9 and 11, 2025, warned Marco Langbroek, lecturer on optical surveillance of space at the Delft Technical University in the Netherlands.

But unlike the hundred satellites or floors of rockets that fall each year, the old Soviet probe may not disintegrate in the atmosphere. And for good reason: it was designed for a much more demanding test, descend into the thick and very hot atmosphere of the planet Venus. A feat achieved by the probe will come 8, launched four days earlier than Kosmos 482, and which succeeds in landing on the surface of the planet. She…