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Failed 1970s Venus Probe Could Crash to Earth This Year
space.com ^

Posted on 02/25/2019 7:38:40 AM PST by BenLurkin

Cosmos 482 was a sister probe to Venera 8,which in July 1972 became the second craft to land successfully on the surface of Venus, said Don Mitchell, who studies Soviet space history and has a keen interest in that country's Venus exploration missions.

But Cosmos 482 got stranded in an Earth parking orbit, Mitchell told Space.com. Some hardware from that failed flight — a heavy frame of tanks and equipment that was jettisoned — fell into Earth's atmosphere in rather short order. But some remained aloft.

Still adrift around Earth, making one lap every 112 minutes, is the wayward Cosmos 482 Venus entry capsule, a contraption built to withstand the heat of diving into that cloud-veiled planet's thick atmosphere. The errant Venus lander mass is 1,091 lbs. (495 kilograms) and carries significant thermal protection.

And this piece of space junk will likely survive its inevitable descent back to its home planet, experts said.

Cosmos 482 is in an orbit that swings it out from Earth over 1,700 miles (2,735 km) away, but the low point, the perigee of the orbit, is just 125 miles (200 km) above our planet. Another rough estimate suggests that what's left of the failed Venus probe might stay up for another 2.5 years, even with such a low perigee.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; cosmos482; donmitchell; russia; science; venera8; venus
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To: BenLurkin

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/venera72_kosmos482.html

Says the solar arrays failed to deploy.


21 posted on 02/25/2019 8:40:45 AM PST by Rio
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To: MrEdd

That’s the point, IT MAY NOT BURN UP.. its designed to survive entry into VENUS’s atmosphere, much hotter and denser than ours... Depending on how it re-enters is may not burn up and basically become a giant bomb should it strike land.


22 posted on 02/25/2019 8:42:02 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: mad_as_he$$

As a side note, Cosmos 482 is not the original mission name. The USSR classified anything they launched as “Cosmos” if it became stuck in Earth orbit, regardless of what the original mission profile was.


23 posted on 02/25/2019 8:42:51 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: HamiltonJay
We've seen this before.


24 posted on 02/25/2019 8:45:01 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: HamiltonJay
...its designed to survive entry into VENUS’s atmosphere...

Correct. Even if the heat shield is compromised, this sucker would survive reentry quite well.
25 posted on 02/25/2019 8:45:06 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: alexander_busek
Someone, please post the iconic image from "The Six-Million-Dollar Man."


26 posted on 02/25/2019 8:45:07 AM PST by Carpe Cerevisi
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To: Larry Lucido

It would hurt more than an electronic organizer that was tossed from a passing limo.


27 posted on 02/25/2019 8:46:26 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Army Air Corps

Good to know. I remember when that Soviet spy satellite crashed in Northern Canada back in the 70’s. Supposedly the contamination was pretty significant.


28 posted on 02/25/2019 8:48:10 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Larry Lucido

Skylab was NOT a lander, it was not designed to enter the atmosphere, this thing has a lander, not only does it have a lander, it has a lander that was designed and built to survive entry into Venus’s atmosphere and touch down on its surface... an atmosphere far denser and hotter than earths. While the main ship my burn up, the lander very well may survive reentry to earth in tact.

Making it a giant kinetic bomb, should it strike land.


29 posted on 02/25/2019 8:49:10 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: BenLurkin

@AOC and Kamalalamadingdong demanding the fedgov distribute free hard hats to all poor people.


30 posted on 02/25/2019 8:52:01 AM PST by nascarnation
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To: BenLurkin

I guess Earth just has a case of Venus envy.


31 posted on 02/25/2019 8:53:18 AM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult
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To: Army Air Corps

Was this the part of the ‘mision’ which was to orbit Venus and relay the lander data?


32 posted on 02/25/2019 8:53:29 AM PST by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Oh, heck yeah! That was Cosmos 954. The recovery effort was a joint US-Canadian operation dubbed “Operation Morning light.” The recovery teams scoured an area of about 48,000 square miles. One of the recovered pieces emitted 500 R/h.


33 posted on 02/25/2019 8:56:07 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: MrEdd

If you think a Soviet spacecraft is the summit of beauty and love ...


34 posted on 02/25/2019 8:58:43 AM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Hillarys Gate Cult

earthlings have irresistible urge to probe venus...


35 posted on 02/25/2019 8:59:39 AM PST by RitchieAprile
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To: MHGinTN


This is the layout of a Venera probe. The orbiter and lander are launched as a unit, with the lander separating as the probe enters orbit.

36 posted on 02/25/2019 9:00:49 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: HamiltonJay

“Making it a giant kinetic bomb, should it strike land.”
Or it could be a large cannon ball it it hits the ocean! (71% of earths surface)


37 posted on 02/25/2019 9:07:23 AM PST by 9422WMR
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To: 9422WMR

It wont work like that. A kinetic weapon has to enter steeply and aerodynamically and reach impact before atmospheric air resistance slows it to a sedate terminal velocity.

This thing is going to brush the upper atmosphere several times and then take a very long lazy arc to the surface. It may really wreck anytthing it hits but its not going to hit like a “rod from god” weapon.


38 posted on 02/25/2019 9:16:05 AM PST by Advil000
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To: Army Air Corps

Interesting. Thanks.


39 posted on 02/25/2019 9:28:28 AM PST by mad_as_he$$
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To: BenLurkin

What goes up, must come down. Just wait until some space junk crashes in the middle of Times Square.


40 posted on 02/25/2019 9:30:30 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.S)
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