50-year-old Soviet spacecraft expected to crash on Earth this weekend

The Soviet spacecraft Kosmos-482 was launched in 1972 on a mission to Venus. But due to a rocket malfunction, it's been hurtling back towards Earth in an elliptical orbit for the past 53 years.

May 9, 2025 - 17:16
 0
50-year-old Soviet spacecraft expected to crash on Earth this weekend
View of the earth photographed from the Apollo 11 spacecraft as it approached the earth on its return from the moon on July 24, 1969.<br>

The Soviet spacecraft Kosmos-482 was launched in 1972 on a mission to Venus. But due to a rocket malfunction, it's been hurtling back towards Earth in an elliptical orbit for the past 53 years.

(Image credit: NASA/AFP via Getty Images))