A Soviet spacecraft, Kosmos 482, is expected to crash land on Earth after a journey of half a century. Here are the details ¹:

– Spacecraft Details:

    – Name: Kosmos 482

    – Launched: March 31, 1972

    – Mission: Attempted Venus probe that failed to escape low Earth orbit

    – Weight: Approximately 1,050 pounds, covered with a protective heat shield

– Reentry Predictions:

    – Time: Expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere on May 10, around 7:30 UT (03:30 ET), with some uncertainty

    – Location: Unpredictable, but likely between 52 degrees north and south of the equator, passing through countries like the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and parts of Russia

– Potential Impact:

    – Damage: Experts believe it may not cause significant damage, but there’s a small chance it could kill civilians or wreck buildings

    – Probability: 1 in 25,000 chance of causing deadly damage, according to The Aerospace Corporation’s calculations

– Tracking:

    – Updates: The European Space Agency (ESA) is providing regular updates on its blog and live prediction diagrams

    – Tracker: You can check the ESA Kosmos 482 reentry tracker for live updates

It’s worth noting that the chances of being hit by this space debris are extremely low, comparable to winning the lottery or being struck by lightning ¹.