Soviet-era space probe crashes to Earth after half a century in orbit

"The location of the impact was not predictable and even Belgium was one of the possibilities," underlines RTBF , the Belgian radio and television station .

A Soviet-era space probe crashed back to Earth on Saturday, May 10, more than half a century after its failed launch to Venus. After 53 years in space, Kosmos 482 crashed into the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos. This return to Earth is a “testimony of humanity’s first steps in space,” notes the New York Times .

"Designed to land on the surface of Venus, " the craft "could have remained intact during its fall," the American daily estimates. "The probe's landing capsule " had been designed to survive the extreme heat and pressure of the atmosphere" of Earth's twin planet, "which required a robust heat shield and a particularly resistant structure," explains the BBC .

“Most large pieces of space debris disintegrate by igniting when they enter the Earth's atmosphere, creating veritable artificial meteor showers,” recalls the specialist site Space.com .

The United States Space Command tracks dozens of atmospheric reentries each month. What distinguished Kosmos 482 and justified the special attention of authorities and private observers was that, given its robustness, the craft had a better chance of surviving atmospheric re-entry.

“The risk of injury or property damage from these falls remains very low, as most debris burns up in the air, and the surviving fragments generally fall into the ocean or uninhabited areas,” notes Space.com. “But as the number of atmospheric reentries increases, so does the likelihood of an accident.”

“There are a lot of objects that were launched in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s,” space historian Asif Siddiqi told the New York Times . “Sometimes you remember there’s this museum above your head… when one of its pieces falls back on you.”