A Soviet probe weighing half a ton has crashed into the Indian Ocean, the Russian space agency announced. The Soviets launched this spacecraft into space back in 1972, but due to a malfunction it did not leave Earth's orbit
The Soviet automatic space station Kosmos-482, which has been in Earth's orbit since 1972, entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and fell into the Indian Ocean, the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced.
"According to the calculations of experts from JSC CNIIMass (part of Roscosmos), the station entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 9.24:560 a.m. Moscow time, XNUMX kilometers west of the Middle Andaman Island, and fell into the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta," the statement said, reports Interfax.
Roscosmos states that the descent of the station was controlled by the Automated Warning System for Dangerous Situations in Near Space.
Fallen after half a century
The Soviets launched Kosmos 482 in 1972, intending to send it to Venus to join other spacecraft in the Venus program.
However, due to a rocket malfunction, that spacecraft remained stuck in orbit around the Earth. Gravity was constantly pulling her down and was expected to finally cause her end.
Spherical in shape, the spacecraft - with a diameter of one meter and a mass of more than 495 kilograms - is the last part of Kosmos 482 that fell from the sky. All other parts collapsed within a decade.
Any remains of the aircraft, according to the United Nations agreement, belong to Russia.
Above average durability
Built to land on the solar system's hottest planet, the craft is covered in titanium, which is why experts expected it to survive its fiery, uncontrolled fall through Earth's atmosphere.
Marek Zibart, a professor of space geodesy at University College London, said the situation was unusual, and that satellites leaving orbit usually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere due to air resistance.
However, this is not the case with Kosmos 482 - a spacecraft designed to withstand the extreme conditions of Venus, such as the acidic atmosphere and high temperatures.
"Anything we try to send to Venus has to be shielded," Ziebart told The Guardian.
"Since this thing weighs about 500 kilograms and is only about a meter in diameter, it will probably survive," he added.
Sources: Guardian/AP
A new law in France brings taxes, bans and stricter environmental criteria for ultra-fast fashion and companies like Shein and Temu. While Europe imposes restrictions, Serbia remains awash in cheap clothing with almost no rules. Can domestic legislators follow the French example
Lidl Serbia and the Red Cross of Serbia are joining forces again this year through the "You're My Type" humanitarian campaign, in order to contribute to ensuring more stable blood reserves during the summer months.
The collection of toys in the Ethnographic Museum preserves the world without screens and batteries. A recent exhibition revealed it to children, and brought back to their parents memories of a time without worries and obligations
Marketing could lose everything that makes it the art of communication, and the entire industry could be reduced to an algorithmic machine with no room for intuition, vision and human creativity.
Sol Kerzner, the son of Russian Jews who moved to South Africa, decided one day that he wanted a new life. He became the owner of a chain of hotels, two of which are located in Montenegro
Vučić is not defending the state, but himself from the state. With a drum on his back and a guitar in his hands, this man-orchestra performs two or three of the same songs without hearing, with falsifications and falling out of rhythm. His government and politics are like that. In short - dangerous for the environment
Arrests of professors, punishment of people, firing of journalists... The regime of Aleksandar Vučić is shining and is yet to shine. It is the decadent phase of the regime, the one towards the end
The example of the elections in Zaječar and Kosjerić shows that the truth is not given, but assumed. Truth is a task that a citizen fulfills. She always wins
The archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
