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The old saying, “What goes up, must come down,” has long ago been disproven. When something is shot up into space, it can reach a point at which it will no longer come back down to earth, but will instead reach escape velocity and continue to travel away forever. That is the science behind any rocket that is sent out into space to visit other planets, or simply to travel away, sending information back to Earth.
Sometimes, however, missions don’t go according to plan, and something that was never intended to come back to Earth ends up crash-landing. That is what happened to the Kosmos 482 craft.
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This craft was launched back in 1972 by the then Soviet Union. It was part of their Venera program, which was created to study Venus. The program was one of the most successful space programs in history, with many amazing results, including the following:
- Venera 1 and 2 – These craft were sent to fly by Venus without entering orbit. While it is believed that they successfully flew by, they both had issues with telemetry and could not properly report back to Earth. These crafts were launched in February 1961
- Venera 3 – This craft was the first human-made object to ever impact the surface of another planet.
- Venera 4 – This craft was the first spacecraft to ever successfully measure the atmosphere of another planet.
- Venera 5 and 6 – These crafts recorded 53 and 51 minutes of data while descending through the atmosphere of Venus.
- Venera 7 – This probe launched in August 0f 1970 and landed on the surface after its parachute failed. The communications antenna was misaligned because of this, which resulted in a weak signal, but it did work. On December 15th, 1970, it became the first human-made probe to transmit data from the surface of Venus.
- Venera 8 – This one launched in 1972 and landed on the planet in the sunlight. It transmitted information, including light levels, for nearly an hour.
- Venera 9 – 12 – These missions used an updated design that weighed more and had a cushioned bottom to help with the landings. Each one landed on the surface and operated for anywhere from 53 minutes to 110 minutes, sending back valuable information to Earth. Venera 9 was the first manmade object to take a picture on the surface of another planet and send it back home.
The craft that was going to be Venera 9 failed to escape the Earth’s gravity due to a number of mechanical problems. So, since it ended up in a very elongated orbit around Earth, it was named Kosmos 482. All Soviet craft that orbit Earth were given the Kosmos moniker, whether it was intentional or not.
Kosmos 482 orbited Earth for over 50 years before finally reentering our atmosphere on May 10th, 2025. Space agencies lost track of it in the atmosphere, and it is believed to have largely burned up, and any remains crashed into the Eastern Indian Ocean.
The Venera missions were incredibly successful.
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