The “Cosmos-482” spacecraft launched by the USSR left orbit and fell into the Indian Ocean (2 photos + 1 video)

There were concerns that the "messenger of a more advanced civilization" could fall into densely populated areas. Fortunately, everything turned out well.





The Soviet apparatus "Cosmos-482", launched in 1972 to study Venus, fell into the Indian Ocean. This was reported by Roscosmos.

The state corporation reported that the apparatus entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 9:24, 560 kilometers west of Middle Andaman Island and fell into the ocean west of the capital of Indonesia. The descent of the device was controlled by the near-Earth space hazard warning system.



The Kosmos-482 station was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome more than 50 years ago. However, due to problems with the booster block, it remained in a high elliptical orbit of the planet and gradually approached the Earth. The main body of the probe burned up in the atmosphere back in 1981, but the descent module remained in orbit and orbited the Earth for more than 50 years, according to media reports.

The Kosmos-482 automatic interplanetary station (AMS) was launched by the USSR using the Molniya-M launch vehicle. The AMS was identical to the Venera-8 station and was intended to study the atmosphere and surface of this planet. The probe was prepared for the harsh conditions of Venus, so many experts had previously been concerned that the device, which due to its design features would not burn up in the atmosphere, could cause trouble when falling to Earth. However, such an outcome was estimated as one in several thousand.