[mad_as_he$$]

Good to know! But is it really what they say it is?

[Army Air Corps]

But is it really what they say it is?

That is actually a good question, seeing as how the USSR denied knowledge of the launch. "Rocket? what rocket?" When pieces of the rocket descended upon New Zealand (Ashburton balls incident), examination revealed that the pieces were obviously of Soviet origin. The USSR denied that the fragments were theirs or that they had even launched the thing. It is generally accepted that Cosmos 482 is a failed Venera probe.

[Army Air Corps]

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.