The 500 -pound spacecraft will fall out of control and fall to Earth – Cyprus Newspaper

The Soviet -made Kosmos 482 spacecraft, which was launched to land in Venus in the 1970s, is expected to fall uncontrolled in the Earth next week.

The capsule, weighing about 500 kilograms, could not get out of orbit due to the failure of the launch rocket and could not complete his task.

According to space debris experts, it is not yet known where the object will fall and how much will remain intact during the transition from the atmosphere.

Orbit for 53 years

Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek predicts that the space capsule will enter the Earth around 10 May. According to Langbroek, the object may hit the ground at a speed of 240 kilometers per hour if the object remains without disintegration.

“The risk is not completely disappeared, but there is no need to worry seriously, Lang said Lanbroek,“ The object is considered small. Even if it does not burn completely in the atmosphere, the risk of this event is similar to the meteor drops that occur several times a year. Even the probability of lightning impact is more likely.

It is likely to fall into the ocean

According to Langbroek, the possibility of hitting one of the capsule or a structure is quite low, but “cannot be completely excluded.” The spacecraft was launched by the Soviet Union in 1972, but remained in the orbit of Earth before it reached Venus.

Over the years, most of its parts fall to the earth, the up capsule – a metallic sphere of about one meter – a metallic sphere – has returned in high elliptical orbit for 53 years and has lost its altitude over time.

The danger may increase if the heat shield is based

According to Langbroek, the capsule, designed to withstand Venus’s intense carbon dioxide atmosphere, can successfully overcome the passage through the atmosphere. However, this increases the risk.

Jonathan McDowell of Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics Center says it would be a better scenario to fail the heat shield.

“If the heat shield fails, the capsule burns in the atmosphere. However, if the protection system is based, a half -ton metal object will be fell from the sky,” he said.

May fall into a large area

According to experts, the capsule can fall anywhere between Edmonton, London in the north and Cape Horn, the most extreme point of South America in the south. However, since most of the world surface is covered with water, « the probability of falling into an ocean is quite high. »

In 2022, a Chinese rocket and in 2018, China’s space station Tiangong-1 entered the world atmosphere uncontrollable and fell into the ocean.