Part of the spacecraft of the Soviet period to overthrow the earth this weekend | Space

Part of a Soviet spacecraft is expected to crash back to earth this weekend. Experts are still not sure where it will land.

Kosmos 482 was launched in March 1972 a few days after the Venera 8 Atmospheric probe on a Sojuz rocket and it was assumed that it had a similar purpose. It was intended to reach Venus, and it could not escape four pieces, and instead broke into four pieces.

Now it is expected that the Lander probe from Kosmos 482 will come to earth with a bump. Marek Ziebart, Professor of Space Geodesy at the University College London, said the situation was unusual and found that de-orbited satellites tended to burn due to the drag in the atmosphere of the planet.

However, it is unlikely that Kosmos 482 is the case – a spaceship that withstands the extreme conditions of Venus as well as its acidic atmosphere and extreme warmth. “Everything we try to send Venus has to be plated,” said Ziebart.

As a result, the Lander probe is robust enough to get through the earth's atmosphere. “Because this thing is basically 500 kg and it is only one meter, it will probably survive,” he added.

It is not the first part of Kosmos 482: some components landed shortly after the start in New Zealand. According to the NASA, the landing probe contained a heat plate and a parachute to land it. However, experts said that they may have been affected over time.

While the height of the cosmos 482 gradually decreased, when it crashes onto the earth, it remains unclear. NASA said that it was expected that she would come back to the earth's atmosphere from 9 to May 10th.

The place of the crash remains a mystery. At the moment, NASA said that the state probe could end between the widths of 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south – a wide band that includes parts of Europe, Great Britain and America as well as Africa and Australia. “It is not held on the poles,” said Ziebart.

While NASA said that the time and the place where it would step back into the earth's atmosphere should be known more precisely the next day, the uncertainty would be significant until the re -entry.

“Since this is uncontrolled, this is the most important thing here, we can't do anything to influence where it comes down, but we can pursue it with telescopes and radar,” said Ziebart, although he found that the area in question depends on a sufficient radar cover.

He added that with the Lander probe not only heavy, but probably at speed, but a destructive ability.

But while the probe could hit an populated area, Ziebert said when water covered about 72% of the earth's surface: “It will be more than likely to hit water”.