The Soviet spacecraft Kosmos-482which has been lost in space for 53 years, will return to Earth in the early hours of this Saturday. According to the latest estimates, Latin America is among the possible places where you could impact.
Kosmos-482 was launched in March 1972 with the mission of landing in Venus. However, a rocket failure left it drifting in the earth’s orbit. After that, without many noticed, it began to be attracted again by the seriousness of the planet.
With a weight of 476 kilosthe probe was designed to survive its immersion in the dense Venusian atmosphere. Therefore, it is likely that it will resist in our atmosphere, where thousands of disuse satellites end up sprayed due to high temperatures caused by friction.
Following its imminent uncontrolled return, various space agencies and specialized organizations are monitoring the trajectory of the object.
The European Space Agency (ESA)in its last report, it indicates that Kosmos-482, will enter the earth’s atmosphere this May 10 at 06:37 UTC (1:37 am in Peru). However, this prediction has an uncertainty of more or less 3.28 hours.
As the orbit of the probe is closer to the earth, the calculations on the time of its arrival will be more precise.
Due to the degree of inclination with which it will return to the planet, it was initially estimated that it could land at any point between 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south, which covers all continents except Antarctica.
Nevertheless, Aerospace Corporationan organization financed by the US government that tracks space waste, refined in the last hours its prediction on possible places of impact, as observed in the following map.
Among the Latin American countries that could be impacted by the spatial object, they appear Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, among others.
The space technology company Kayhan Space, based in Colorado, shows in real time the trajectory of the Kosmos-482.
As indicated on its page, the reentry of the ship is expected to occur around 06:33 UTC.
Experts ask for caution before this event: it is always more likely that any object from space falls into the ocean, since the water covers approximately 70% of the earth’s surface.
Due to the variability of atmospheric density at lower altitudes, any prediction over the landing place could fail. Therefore, the only way to confirm the exact point of impact will be after it happens.
