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<blockquote data-quote="Babagounj" data-source="post: 6116698" data-attributes="member: 12952"><h3>A Half-Ton Spacecraft Lost by the Soviets in 1972 Is Coming Home</h3>Kosmos-482, which was headed to Venus, is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere by the end of this weekend.Experts don’t yet know where it may come down.Kosmos-482 launched in March 1972.Was supposed to go to Venus, but something went wrong.No one knows. “And we won’t know until after the fact,” Dr. McDowell said.That’s because Kosmos-482 is hurtling through space at more than 17,000 miles an hour, and it will be going that fast until atmospheric friction pumps the brakes. So getting the timing wrong by even a half-hour means the spacecraft re-enters more than half a world away, in a different spot.What’s known is that Kosmos-482’s orbit places it between 52 degrees north latitude and 52 degrees south latitude, which covers Africa, Australia, most of the Americas and much of south- and mid-latitude Europe and Asia.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Babagounj, post: 6116698, member: 12952"] [HEADING=2]A Half-Ton Spacecraft Lost by the Soviets in 1972 Is Coming Home[/HEADING] Kosmos-482, which was headed to Venus, is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere by the end of this weekend. Experts don’t yet know where it may come down. Kosmos-482 launched in March 1972. Was supposed to go to Venus, but something went wrong. No one knows. “And we won’t know until after the fact,” Dr. McDowell said. That’s because Kosmos-482 is hurtling through space at more than 17,000 miles an hour, and it will be going that fast until atmospheric friction pumps the brakes. So getting the timing wrong by even a half-hour means the spacecraft re-enters more than half a world away, in a different spot. What’s known is that Kosmos-482’s orbit places it between 52 degrees north latitude and 52 degrees south latitude, which covers Africa, Australia, most of the Americas and much of south- and mid-latitude Europe and Asia. [/QUOTE]

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