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Soviet spacecraft Kosmos-482, launched in 1972 has has finally returned to Earth after more than five decades orbiting the globe. The Kosmos-482 spacecraft was one of the USSR's ambitious Venera program to explore Venus during the Cold War space race. The European Space Agency (ESA) says Kosmos-482 entered Earth's atmosphere uncontrolled in the early hours of Saturday morning, following radar detections last followed it passing over Germany. It suggests that it crashed in the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos.

Though the exact impact location has not been revealed, no injuries or structural damage have occurred. Experts also point out that the danger of injury from space objects re-entering is very low. ESA estimates put the yearly risk of a human being hurt by space debris at below 1 in 100 billion.

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Venus Mission Comes To An End 

Originally set to launch on March 31, 1972, Kosmos-482 was planned to land on Venus. But because of a rocket failure, the spacecraft could not break free from Earth's gravity and got stuck in orbit. Weighing more than 1,000 pounds and approximately three feet wide, the probe had been losing altitude for decades. Designed to withstand Venus's hostile environment, surface temperatures approaching 870°F, and atmospheric pressures 90 times that of Earth, the spacecraft was specially durable. Its heavy-duty construction enabled it to withstand the dive through Earth's atmosphere.

Kosmos-482 is a reminder of the pioneering work of the Soviet Union in interplanetary exploration. Although the spacecraft did not succeed with its primary mission, its twin probe, Venera 8, landed on Venus successfully a few days later. The Venera program subsequently returned the first pictures from the surface of Venus and made planetary science history. Kosmos-482's dramatic re-entry has awakened worldwide interest, a harsh reminder that the relics of past space races still orbit silently above us until they fall.

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