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After looping through space for 53 years, a wayward Soviet spacecraft called Kosmos-482 returned to Earth, entering the dense layers of the planet’s atmosphere at 9:24 a.m. Moscow time on Saturday, according to Roscosmos, the Russian state corporation that runs the space program.Designed to land on the surface of Venus, Kosmos-482 may have remained intact during its plunge. It splashed down in the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia, Roscosmos said.Kosmos-482 was launched on March 31, 1972, but became stranded in Earth’s orbit after one of its rocket boosters shut down prematurely. The spacecraft’s return to Earth was a reminder...

A Soviet spacecraft launched in 1972 on a failed mission to Venus is believed to have crashed back onto Earth early on Saturday morning. The European Space Agency, which was monitoring the craft's uncontrolled descent, said it was last spotted by radar over Germany. At at the time of its expected crash, radars could no longer detect the Kosmos 482, concluding that “it is most likely that the reentry has already occurred.”

In 1972 the Soviet union launched two spacecraft to explore the planet Venus, Venera 8 would become the second spacecraft to land on Venus, while the other spacecraft got stuck in Earth orbit and so was designated Kosmos 482. Now, 50 years later we expect the spacecraft to finally fall back to Earth, and unlike most spacecraft this one is designed to survive atmospheric entry. So it could land as a solid mass and maybe there's hardware that will survive, or more likely it will land in the ocean and sink.... 50 Year Old Venus Spacecraft Is About To Land...

The Soviet Union launched the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 in 1972, one of a series of Venus missions. A Soviet-era spacecraft meant to land on Venus in the 1970s is expected to plunge uncontrolled back to Earth, possibly within the first two weeks of May. It's too early to know where the half-tonne mass of metal might come down or how much of it will survive re-entry, according to space debris tracking experts. Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek predicts the failed spacecraft will re-enter around 10 May. He estimates it will come crashing at around 242 kph, assuming it remains...