A half-tonne piece of a 53-year-old Soviet rocket is expected to crash back down to Earth in the coming days. The upper stage of the rocket, which was launched from the USSR’s spaceport in what is now Kazakhstan in 1972, failed after being intended to reach Venus. Instead, it left behind only one chunk of the spacecraft in orbit around the Earth.
The piece, known as a heat-protected capsule, has been circulating in space for decades and was thought to be debris left from the spacecraft. However, recent analysis revealed that it was actually the Venus entry capsule from Cosmos 482, designed to survive the crushing force of Venus’s atmosphere.
Astronomer Marco Langbroek predicts that the capsule will hit Earth around May 10th, traveling at a speed of just a couple of hundred miles per hour. Despite its size and speed, the chances of it causing significant harm are low, as much of the surface is covered in ocean.
The incident highlights the growing problem of space junk in orbit, with scientists warning that it’s getting increasingly crowded and dependent on satellites for everyday life. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell emphasizes the need to clean up space debris, saying, “It’s getting really crowded out there.”
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/half-tonne-piece-of-soviet-rocket-to-crash-back-down-to-earth-in-coming-days-13358613