Exact location failed soviet spacecraft hit as it crashed back to earth

KOSMOS 482, WAS LAUNCHED BY THE USSR IN 1972 AND ONCE BOUND FOR VENUS, BUT A BADLY CONFIGURED TIMER ONBOARD THE PROBE MEANT IT NEVER LEFT OUR PLANET'S ORBIT. BENEDICT TETZLAFF-DEAS News

Reporter, ADAM CAILLER Senior reporter and Reddit team lead and BETHAN FINIGHAN 07:20, 14 May 2025Updated 07:20, 14 May 2025 The impact site of a Soviet spacecraft that plummeted to Earth

over the weekend has been identified. Kosmos 482, launched by the USSR in 1972 with the intention of reaching Venus, never escaped Earth's orbit due to a faulty timer onboard. For

decades, the lander segment of the spacecraft steadily spiralled back towards our planet, capturing the attention of space agencies, the US military, and astronomers who closely monitored

its trajectory. Recently, experts announced that the spacecraft was expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on May 10, suggesting it could land anywhere within 52 degrees north and 52

degrees south latitude, sparking widespread speculation about its eventual landing site. However, Kosmos 482's re-entry after more than 50 years in space went largely unnoticed, and its

landing location was initially unknown. On Saturday morning, the European Space Agency (ESA) revealed that radar systems in Germany did not detect the Kosmos 482 descent craft at the

expected time, leading the ESA to conclude that "it is most likely that the re-entry has already occurred". Article continues below Later that day, the Russian Space Agency

Roscosmos reported: "The spacecraft entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 9:24 Moscow time [6.24am UK time], 560 km west of Middle Andaman Island, and fell into the Indian Ocean

west of Jakarta.", reports the Mirror. Because the lander was built tough enough to handle Venus' brutal atmosphere, NASA reckons it might have survived the plunge back to Earth.

The boffins at the space agency reckon Kosmos 482 splashed down in the drink west of Jakarta, Indonesia. No bother or harm done, and the lack of any fireball shows it probably plopped into

the sea well away from any souls. This didn't come as a shock to the star-gazers; ESA had already said the chances of a satellite coming back to Earth and causing injury were

"extremely remote." The space bods added: "The annual risk of an individual human being injured by space debris is under 1 in 100 billion. In comparison, a person is about

65,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning." Still, this won't be the last bit of kit we've sent up that'll come tumbling down, and Kosmos 482's homecoming

is a stark reminder of the mounting danger of space junk whizzing around our planet. Kosmos 482 is just one of a whopping 1.2 million bits of space rubbish bigger than a centimetre tracked

by ESA. These days, satellites or old rocket parts are barrelling back into our atmosphere over three times a day on average, with space smash-ups and uncontrolled returns becoming all too

common. Article continues below _FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AND STORIES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE FROM THE DAILY STAR, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS._