Kosmos 482 facts for kids
Assembly of Venera 8, a similar craft
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| Names | Kosmos 482 main bus |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Delivery of a lander to Venus |
| Operator | Soviet Academy of Sciences |
| Mission duration | Launch failure |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 3V (V-72) no. 671 |
| Bus | 3MV |
| Launch mass | 1,180 kilograms (2,600 lb) (including the descent module) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | March 31, 1972, 04:02:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Molniya 8K78M |
| Launch site | Baikonur 31/6 |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | 5 May 1981 final sections of 1972-023A |
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| Mission type | Venus lander |
|---|---|
| Operator | Soviet Academy of Sciences |
| Mission duration | Launch failure |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 495kg/1019lb/77.9stone |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | March 31, 1972, 04:02:00 UTC |
| Deployed from | Separated from the main bus |
| Deployment date | mid-June 1972 |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | Most likely occurred between 06:04 and 07:32 UTC based on German radar detections.
Predictions: TUDAT: 10 May 06:39 ± 1.5 hr UTC CSpOC TIP: 10 May 05:32 ± 1.0 hr UTC ESA's Space Debris Office: 10 May 06:37 ± 3.3 hr UTC EU-SST: 10 May 06:07 ± 4.8 hr UTC Aerospace Corp: 10 May 06:12 ± 3.0 hr UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Semi-major axis | 6,588 kilometres (4,094 mi) |
| Perigee | 136 kilometres (85 mi) |
| Apogee | 232 kilometres (144 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.95° |
| Period | 88.7 minutes |
| Epoch | 7 May, 2025 1:47 UTC |
Kosmos 482 (which means Cosmos 482 in Russian) was a space probe launched by the Soviet Union on March 31, 1972. It was meant to travel to Venus, but it failed to leave Earth's orbit. Because it stayed in Earth's orbit, its name was changed to "Kosmos," a name used for satellites that orbit Earth.
After reaching a temporary orbit around Earth, the spacecraft split into two main parts. One part was the main section of the probe, and the other was the special module designed to land on Venus.
The main part of the spacecraft broke up and fell back into Earth's atmosphere over several years, from 1972 to 1981. The landing module, which weighed about 495 kilograms (1,019 pounds), crashed into the Indian Ocean on May 10, 2025. It was designed to be very strong to survive Venus's harsh atmosphere. However, it's not known if it survived its crash on Earth.
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What Was Kosmos 482?
From 1962, the Soviet Union gave the name Kosmos to any spacecraft that stayed in Earth's orbit. This happened even if the spacecraft was supposed to go somewhere else. Kosmos 482 was planned to be a planetary probe, meaning it was meant to explore another planet.
Soviet planetary missions usually started by going into a temporary orbit around Earth. From there, a rocket engine would fire for about four minutes to send the probe towards its target planet. If this engine failed, the probe would stay in Earth's orbit and get a Kosmos name.
The Mission's Story
Kosmos 482 was launched on March 31, 1972, using a Molniya rocket. This was just four days after another Venus probe, Venera 8, was launched. Kosmos 482 was likely very similar in design and mission goals to Venera 8.
After reaching Earth's orbit, the spacecraft tried to start its journey to Venus. However, it broke into four pieces. Two pieces stayed in a low Earth orbit and fell back to Earth within two days, landing in southern New Zealand. The other two pieces, which were probably the main probe and its engine, went into a higher orbit.
The problem was that a timer on the rocket stage was set incorrectly. This caused the engine to shut off too early, stopping the probe from escaping Earth's orbit and continuing its journey to Venus.
Space Junk in New Zealand (1972)
On April 3, 1972, four hot, heavy metal spheres crashed near Ashburton, New Zealand. Each sphere weighed about 13.6 kilograms (30 pounds) and was 38 centimeters (15 inches) wide. They landed within a 16-kilometer (10-mile) area, burning holes in crops and making deep marks in the ground. Luckily, no one was hurt. Another similar object was found in New Zealand in 1978.
According to Space law, space junk should be returned to the country that owns it. However, the Soviets said they didn't know anything about the satellite and didn't own it. This meant the pieces belonged to the farmers whose land they fell on. Scientists in New Zealand studied the pieces. They found manufacturing marks and special welding that showed the objects were from the Soviet Union. They believed these were gas tanks from the rocket that launched the satellite.
The Descent Craft Re-enters (2025)
The last remaining piece of Kosmos 482, the descent craft, was expected to fall back to Earth on May 10, 2025. It was predicted to land somewhere between 51.95 degrees north or south of the equator.
On May 10, 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that the craft was not seen by radar during a predicted pass over Germany. This suggested it had already re-entered Earth's atmosphere earlier that morning.
Later that day, the Russian space agency Roscosmos confirmed that the lander had safely crashed into the Indian Ocean. It landed west of Jakarta, Indonesia, at 6:24 AM UTC. The condition of the craft after impact is not known.
See also
In Spanish: Cosmos 482 para niños
- Kosmos (satellite)
- List of missions to Venus
- Soviet space program
- Space debris
- List of space debris fall incidents
