Soviet Spacecraft Crashes into Indian Ocean
(MENAFN) A Soviet spacecraft launched in 1972 has plunged into the Indian Ocean, according to Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency.
The Kosmos 482 probe had been circling Earth for more than five decades following a failed mission to Venus.
Roscosmos confirmed that the spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere on Saturday morning and crashed into the ocean to the west of Jakarta, Indonesia.
The descent was tracked by the Automated Warning System for Hazardous Situations in Near-Earth Space. No reports of damage or injuries have been made.
Kosmos 482 was launched on March 31, 1972, as part of the Soviet Union’s initiative to explore Venus.
However, a malfunction in the upper stage of its launch vehicle caused the spacecraft to fail in escaping Earth’s gravitational pull, leaving it in an elliptical orbit instead.
The lander module of the probe, which was engineered to endure Venus’s extreme conditions, featured a durable titanium shell.
This design suggested that some parts of the spacecraft could potentially survive re-entry.
The Soviet Union’s Venera program, which ran from 1961 until the early 1980s, achieved several significant milestones in planetary exploration.
Among its achievements, the Venera 7 in 1970 became the first spacecraft to transmit data from the surface of another planet, while the Venera 9 sent back the first images of Venus’s surface in 1975.
The program successfully landed multiple probes on Venus, providing crucial information about the planet's atmosphere and surface.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept
any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,
videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright
issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
