Doomed Soviet spacecraft Kosmos 482 could hit Earth tonight.

[RadishRose]

The failed Soviet spacecraft Kosmos 482 will conclude its roughly 50-year jaunt through Earth's orbit this weekend, with experts predicting it could crash back to our planet as soon as tonight (May 9).


The latest predictions from the European Space Agency (ESA) reveal that the Kosmos 482 Descent Craft is poised to reenter Earth's atmosphere at approximately 2:26 a.m. EDT (06:26 GMT) on Saturday, May 10. The uncertainty for the prediction is plus or minus 4.35 hours, giving us an estimated reentry window of roughly 10 p.m. EDT Friday (May 9) to 7 a.m EDT Saturday, according to ESA.

Kayhan Space, a Colorado-based space technology company that's also been tracking the craft, predicts an even narrower reentry window. At press time, the company's latest estimate predicts a reentry time of 2:28 a.m. ET (6:28 GMT) on May 10, plus or minus 2.4 hours.

Doomed Soviet spacecraft Kosmos 482 could hit Earth tonight. Here's when.

 

[smiley]

that must be a disappointment for the ruskies that they'll no doubt shrug off?

 

[911]

I guess we don’t know how much this thing weighs?

 

[CallMeKate]

It appears to have "landed" somewhere but no one knows where (but probably will soon know). The tracking stopped over Germany and then it was gone. Do we need to check on @George1959 ?

 

[911]

I heard it landed in the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

Supposedly, it costs an arm and a leg to put things into orbit. So, I didn't ttink there would be much space junk. But there are about 15,000 things in orbit over our heads, some are as small as bolt, others the size of a van, and their total weight is 10,000 tons+/-.

 

[WhatInThe]

I heard it landed in the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta.

Good thing India didn't view as incoming from Pakistan.

But a whew, it didn't hit anyone.