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from https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/new-images-of-soviet-venus-lander-falling-to-earth-suggest-its-parachute-may-be-out

New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute
may be out
News
By Leonard David published 10 hours ago
The soon-to-reenter Soviet Cosmos 482 Venus probe is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some
interesting details.







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two images: on the left, an off-white ball-shaped spacecraft capsule
marked by the letters "CCCP"; on the right, four images of a
roughly ball-shaped white splotch on a white background
A mock-up of the Soviet Union's Venera 7 probe, similar to Cosmos 482, a
Venus probe that never made it past Earth's orbit and is set to reenter
the atmosphere in May 2025 (left); and telescopic images of the Soviet
Cosmos 482 Venus descent craft in Earth's orbit taken by satellite
tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands (right). (Image credit:
NASA/Ralf Vandebergh)
That soon-to-reenter Cosmos 482 is getting increased attention by
satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details.

The former Soviet Union's Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. But that country's attempted Venus probe ran amuck during its rocket-assisted
toss to the cloud-veiled world. Payload leftovers were marooned in Earth
orbit, specifically the spacecraft's lander module/capsule intended to parachute onto the hellish landscape of Venus.

"As this is a lander that was designed to survive passage through the
Venus atmosphere, it is possible that it will survive reentry through
the Earth atmosphere intact, and impact intact," reported Marco
Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands. "There are many
uncertain factors in this though, including that this will be a long
shallow reentry trajectory and the age of the object," observes
Langbroek, who now pegs the current nominal forecast for its reentry on
May 10, plus/minus 2.2 days.

I
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Compact ball
Meanwhile, satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands, has
snagged a first set of images of only the capsule in Earth orbit. "We
see a clear compact ball! This set is already fantastic, I think," he said.

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Those first set of high resolution images, Vandebergh said, are compared
to a Starlink satellite bus in operational orbit. He notes that Cosmos
482 is roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) closer than the Starlink bus
which, according to data, is around 1.3 meters by 2.7 meters.

a black and white image of a roughly cylindrical-shaped grey mass on a
black background

Telescopic images of the Soviet Cosmos 482 Venus descent craft in
Earth's orbit taken by satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the
Netherlands. (Image credit: Ralf Vandebergh)
Parachute speculation
Vandebergh said he is stunned by what he is seeing on collected imagery
frames.

"Several frames seems to confirm what I thought to see in the 2014
images, [that] there is a compact ball but several frames show a weak
elongated structure at one particular side of the ball," Vandebergh
added. He has speculated in the past it was possible that this might be
the parachute that came out.

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a black and white image of a roughly cylindrical-shaped grey mass on a
black background

Telescopic images of the Soviet Cosmos 482 Venus descent craft in
Earth's orbit taken by satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the
Netherlands. (Image credit: Ralf Vandebergh)
"It is not impossible that the object is tumbling," Vandebergh notes,
"so the chute would be sometimes visible," assuming that it is the
chute. He cautioned that more time is needed to better analyze what’s
showing up in the imagery.

That best analysis of the imagery is a work in progress, Vandebergh
concluded, so stay tuned!

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions,
night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment,
let us know at: community@space.com.

Leonard David
Leonard David
Space Insider Columnist
Leonard David is an award-winning space journalist who has been
reporting on space activities for more than 50 years. Currently writing
as Space.com's Space Insider Columnist among his other projects, Leonard
has authored numerous books on space exploration, Mars missions and
more, with his latest being "Moon Rush: The New Space Race" published in
2019 by National Geographic. He also wrote "Mars: Our Future on the Red
Planet" released in 2016 by National Geographic. Leonard has served as
a correspondent for SpaceNews, Scientific American and Aerospace America
for the AIAA. He has received many awards, including the first Ordway
Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History in 2015 at the AAS Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium. You can find out Leonard's latest
project at his website and on Twitter.

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two images: on the left, an off-white ball-shaped spacecraft capsule
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