Launched in 1972, the failed Venus probe has been stuck in Earth orbit ever since. Now it's hurtling back down to Earth.

But it's likely to land in a body of water. Because the Soviet-era spacecraft was designed to survive the extreme temperature and atmospheric density of Venus, researchers suspect it could survive a ...

Kosmos-482, a failed mission to Venus from the former Soviet Union that stalled in Earth orbit in the 1970s, is about to fall back to our planet. Exactly where or when it will strike, however, remains ...

It’s also unclear which portion of the vehicle is set to reenter, though researchers believe it to be the probe, or “entry capsule,” which was designed to survive the extreme temperature and pressure ...

What's different this time is that Kosmos 482 was designed to land on Venus, with a titanium heat shield built to withstand scorching temperatures, and structures engineered to survive atmospheric ...

Venera 1 was launched in 1961, only four years after Sputnik 1, the first satellite. Venera 7, in 1970, was the first ...

A Soviet-era spacecraft meant to land on Venus in the 1970s is expected to soon plunge uncontrolled back to Earth. It’s too early to know where the half-ton mass of metal might come down or how much ...

The Kosmos 482 capsule was built tough for Venus. Its fall to Earth will make a huge fireball and may pose a small risk of hitting people or property.

Part of a Soviet-era spacecraft may return to Earth this week, more than 50 years after it embarked on a botched mission to Venus. Cosmos 482 launched in 1972 with the intent of landing on Venus ...

The Soviet Union launched Kosmos 482 in 1972, intending to land on Venus. However, the probe never left Earth’s orbit because of a rocket malfunction. Since then, the rocket has very gradually ...

Yet while Venera 8 successfully landed on Venus in July 1972 and survived 50 minutes on the surface, the later mission failed and the craft separated into several pieces. Some of these remained in ...