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 ...
Thanx
Sounds like a good target for testing ASAT weapons.
The US Air Force Museum in Dayton once hosted an exhibit of Soviet space items. Fascinating stuff. But I seem to recall they used onboard reactors more often than not.
Also, bear in mind, that the remaining cores are just parked in higher orbits that will decay.
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