A large piece of a Soviet rocket, roughly the size of a car, has made its way back to Earth after spending 53 years in orbit. The re-entry occurred early Saturday morning over southern England, although scientists are still trying to determine the exact landing spot.
The rocket, known as Cosmos 482, was launched in 1972 with the intention of landing on Venus. However, a malfunction in one of its stages left it trapped in Earth’s orbit. Over the years, parts of the rocket have fallen back to Earth, but a significant chunk remained in space until now.
As it re-entered the atmosphere, scientists believe the rocket may have burned up or broken apart due to the intense heat generated by its high-speed descent. This process took place between approximately 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. UTC, with the European Space Agency confirming that they lost radar contact with the craft during this time.
The EU Space Surveillance and Tracking agency reported that the rocket decayed within the estimated re-entry window, suggesting that it fell over southern England. However, predictions varied widely, with some organizations indicating it could have landed anywhere from the Atlantic Ocean to Germany or even Australia.
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Smithsonian, noted that the piece of the rocket weighed about half a tonne and measured around three feet across. He explained that as the rocket hit the atmosphere at high speed, it created a fireball due to the energy converting into heat. If it had struck the ground, it would have been traveling at a couple of hundred miles per hour, which could have caused significant harm.
The upper stage of the rocket, which was supposed to propel it towards Venus, failed during the mission. This left the probe in orbit, with McDowell later identifying the remaining debris as the Venus entry capsule from Cosmos 482. This capsule had a heat shield strong enough to survive the harsh conditions of Venus’s atmosphere.
Scientists are continuing to analyze the situation to understand more about the re-entry and the fate of the rocket. As they gather more data, they hope to clarify what happened during this remarkable event.