Kosmos 482
{{Short description|Failed Soviet Venus probe}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = Kosmos 482
| names_list = Kosmos 482 main bus
| image = Nave espacial Venera 8.jpg
| image_caption = Assembly of Venera 8, a similar craft
| image_alt =
| image_size =
| mission_type = Delivery of a lander to Venus
| operator = Soviet Academy of Sciences
| Harvard_designation =
| COSPAR_ID = 1972-023A
| SATCAT = 5919
| website =
| mission_duration = Launch failure
| distance_travelled =
| orbits_completed =
| suborbital_range =
| suborbital_apogee =
| spacecraft =
| spacecraft_type = 3V (V-72) no. 671
| spacecraft_bus = 3MV
| manufacturer =
| launch_mass = {{convert|1180|kg|lb}} (including the descent module)
| BOL_mass =
| landing_mass =
| dry_mass =
| payload_mass =
| dimensions =
| power =
| launch_date = {{start date|1972|03|31}}, 04:02:00 UTC
| launch_rocket = Molniya 8K78M
| launch_contractor =
| decay_date = {{end-date|5 May 1981}} final sections of 1972-023A
| programme = Venera
| previous_mission = Venera 8
| next_mission = Venera 9
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = Kosmos 482 Descent Craft
| names_list =
| image =
| image_caption =
| image_alt =
| image_size =
| mission_type = Venus lander (intended)
Earth Impactor (accidental)
| operator = Soviet Academy of Sciences
| Harvard_designation =
| COSPAR_ID = 1972-023E
| SATCAT = 6073
| website =
| mission_duration = Launch failure
| distance_travelled =
| orbits_completed =
| suborbital_range =
| suborbital_apogee =
| launch_mass = {{convert|495|kg|lb}}
| BOL_mass =
| landing_mass =
| dry_mass =
| payload_mass =
| dimensions =
| power =
| launch_date = {{start date|1972|03|31}}, 04:02:00 UTC
| deployment_from = Separated from the main bus
| deployment_date = mid-June 1972
| disposal_type =
| deactivated =
| destroyed =
| last_contact =
| recovery_by =
| recovery_date =
| decay_date = Reentry 06:04-07:32 UTC 10 May 2025
| landing_date =
| landing_site =
| orbit_reference = Geocentric
| orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit
| orbit_longitude =
| orbit_slot =
| orbit_semimajor = {{convert|6588|km|mi}}
| orbit_eccentricity =
| orbit_periapsis = {{convert|120|km|mi}} 00:35 UTC 10 May 2025
| orbit_apoapsis = {{convert|166|km|mi}} 00:35 UTC 10 May 2025
| orbit_period = 88.7 minutes
| orbit_RAAN =
| orbit_arg_periapsis =
| orbit_mean_anomaly =
| orbit_mean_motion =
| orbit_repeat =
| orbit_velocity =
| orbit_epoch = 00:36 UTC 10 May 2025
| orbit_rev_number =
| apsis = gee
}}
Kosmos 482 ({{langx|ru|"Космос 482"}} meaning Cosmos 482) was an attempted Soviet Venus probe. Launched 31 March 1972, at 04:02:33 UTC, it failed to escape low Earth orbit. Because of this, its name was retrospectively changed to "Kosmos" which was used for Earth-orbiting satellites.
After achieving a parking orbit around Earth, the full Venera payload (1972-023A) separated into two objects. What was calculated to be the Venera main bus kept the 1972-023A designation, while the designation 1972-023E (catalogue no. 6073) was assigned to the descent craft, which was the section meant to be landed on Venus.{{Cite web |last=Langbroek |first=Marco |date=6 May 2025 |title=SatTrackCam Leiden (b)log: Cosmos 482 Descent Craft reentry forecasts [UPDATED] |url=https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2025/04/kosmos-842-descent-craft-reentry.html |access-date=6 May 2025 |website=SatTrackCam Leiden (b)log}} The main bus and its associated rocket stages reentered Earth's atmosphere between 3 April 1972 and 5 May 1981.
During a 6:04 to 7:32 UTC window on 10 May 2025, the descent craft crashed while it was on a trajectory over Australia, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and Europe. According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, it crashed at 6:24 UTC, into the north-eastern Indian Ocean.{{Cite web |title=Half-tonne piece of Soviet rocket may have crashed through atmosphere over south of England |url=https://news.sky.com/story/half-tonne-piece-of-soviet-rocket-to-crash-back-down-to-earth-in-coming-days-13365129 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Sky News |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Wall |first=Mike |date=2025-05-10 |title=Failed Soviet Venus lander Kosmos 482 crashes to Earth after 53 years in orbit |url=https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/failed-soviet-venus-lander-kosmos-482-crashes-to-earth-after-53-years-in-orbit |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Space |language=en}}
The landing module, which weighed around {{convert|495|kg|lb}},{{Cite news |url=https://www.space.com/failed-soviet-venus-spacecraft-falls-to-earth-soon.html |title=Failed 1970s Venus Probe Could Crash to Earth This Year |last=David |first=Leonard |date=25 February 2019 |work=Space.com |access-date=27 February 2019 |language=en}} may have reached the surface of Earth largely intact. Correctly oriented, it was designed to withstand 300 g of acceleration and 100 atmospheres of pressure entering the atmosphere of Venus. However, the age of the craft and the shallow angle of reentry likely reduced survivability; tumbling or misorientation may have resulted in sections of the craft burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The final impact velocity was estimated to be {{convert|65|-|70|m/s|kph mph}} using a TUDAT simulation.
Background
Beginning in 1962, the name Kosmos was given to Soviet spacecraft which remained in Earth orbit, regardless of whether that was their intended final destination. The designation of this mission as an intended planetary probe is based on evidence from Soviet and non-Soviet sources and historical documents. Typically Soviet planetary missions were initially put into an Earth parking orbit as a launch platform with a rocket engine and attached probe. The probes were then launched toward their targets with an engine burn with a duration of roughly four minutes. If the engine misfired or the burn was not completed, the probes would be left in Earth orbit and given a Kosmos designation.
History
Kosmos 482 was launched by a Molniya booster on 31 March 1972, four days after the Venera 8 atmospheric probe and may have been similar in design and mission plan. After achieving an Earth parking orbit, the spacecraft made an apparent attempt to launch into a Venus transfer trajectory. It separated into four pieces, two of which remained in low Earth orbit and decayed within 48 hours into south New Zealand and two pieces (presumably the payload and detached engine unit) went into a higher {{Convert|210|x|9800|km|abbr=on}}, 51.95 degree inclination orbit. An incorrectly set timer caused the Blok L stage to cut off prematurely, preventing the probe from escaping Earth orbit.
=1972 re-entry pieces=
The first of these pieces, four red-hot {{convert|13.6|kg|adj=on||}} titanium alloy spheres, with a diameter of {{convert|38|cm|in}}, crashed within a {{convert|16|km|adj=on|0|}} radius of each other just outside Ashburton, New Zealand, at 1:00 AM on 3 April 1972.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19720406.2.2 |title=WHAT WILL IT BE? |work=The Press |location=Christchurch, New Zealand |page=1 |date=6 April 1972 |access-date=2 May 2025 |via=Papers Past}} The spheres scorched holes in crops and made deep indentations in the soil, but no one was injured. A similarly shaped object was discovered near Eiffelton, New Zealand, in 1978.{{cite news |first=Alison |last=Horwood |date=24 August 2002 |title=New light on mysterious space balls |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-light-on-mysterious-space-balls/VYQ6S2QIC4QREO55ERXWVIKNSI/ |access-date=15 December 2020 |work=New Zealand Herald}}
Space law required that the space junk be returned to its national owner, but the Soviets denied knowledge or ownership of the satellite.{{Cite web |last=Gates |first=Charlie |date=15 January 2011 |title=Government report on 'space balls' released |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/4542804/Government-report-on-space-balls-released |access-date=20 May 2022 |website=Stuff |language=en}} Ownership therefore fell to the farmer upon whose property the satellite fell. The pieces were thoroughly analyzed by New Zealand scientists which determined that they were Soviet in origin because of manufacturing marks and the high-tech welding of the titanium. The scientists concluded that they were probably gas pressure vessels of a kind used in the launching rocket for a satellite or space vehicle and had decayed in the atmosphere.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19720412.2.111 |title=It might be their ball; but it's our yard |work=The Press |location=Christchurch, New Zealand |page=16 |date=12 April 1972 |access-date=2 May 2025 |via=Papers Past}}
=2025 re-entry=
File:Venera-7 spuskaemiy apparat.jpg
The last remaining piece in orbit, the descent craft, reentered on 10 May 2025, somewhere between 51.95 degrees north and south latitude.{{Cite news |first=Jacinta |last=Bowler |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-05-02/kosmos-482-re-entry-soviet-venus/105237772 |title=Old Soviet spacecraft expected to crash back to Earth |date=2 May 2025 |access-date=6 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}{{cite news |url=https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/a-failed-soviet-venus-lander-will-fall-back-to-earth-after-being-stranded-for-53-years |first=Leonard |last=David |date=28 April 2025 |title=A failed Soviet Venus lander will fall back to Earth after being stranded for 53 years |work=Space.com}}
As of 10 May 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) reported that the descent craft was not detected by radar during a predicted pass over Germany at 07:32 UTC (09:32 CEST). Based on this, ESA concluded that reentry most likely already occurred earlier that morning.{{cite web |title=Reentry prediction: Soviet-era Venera Venus lander Cosmos 482 descent craft |url=https://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2025/05/07/reentry-prediction-soviet-era-venera-venus-lander-cosmos-482-descent-craft/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=ESA Rocket Science Blog |date=10 May 2025 |access-date=10 May 2025}}
According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos the lander had impacted the eastern Indian Ocean at 6:24 a.m. UTC west of Jakarta, Indonesia.{{Cite web |last=Turner |first=Ben |date=2025-05-10 |title=Soviet spacecraft Kosmos 482 crashes back to Earth, disappearing into Indian Ocean after 53 years in orbit |url=https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/soviet-spacecraft-kosmos-482-crashes-back-to-earth-disappearing-into-indian-ocean-after-53-years-in-orbit |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=Live Science |language=en}}
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Space.com: [http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/mir_australia_010220.html Aussies, Kiwis Take Mir Deorbit in Stride] 02:11 pm ET 20 February 2001
- Wired Magazine: [https://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,41865,00.html Awaiting Mir's Crash Down Under] 02:00 AM Feb, 19, 2001
{{Venera}}
{{Venus spacecraft}}
{{Orbital launches in 1972}}
Category:1972 in the Soviet Union
Category:Satellites formerly orbiting Earth
Category:Ashburton, New Zealand
Category:Space accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union