The russian space ship Space 482, which was scheduled to land on Venus in the 1970s, will shortly fall in an uncontrollable way to Earth," said AP agency on Friday. Scientists estimation that a weighing half a ton probe will enter the Earth's atmosphere around 10 May.
Experts believe that present It's besides early to foretell where precisely the damaged ship will fall to Earth and how long it will last. The trajectory of the facility is wide and lies between 52 degrees north latitude and 52 degrees south latitude, which covers most of the populated regions of Earth. The exact point of impact may be determined at a maximum of a fewer hours in advance.
Marco Langbroek of the University of Technology at Delft predicts that the ship just before contacting Earth can travel at up to 242 km/h. This object is comparatively tiny and even if it does not fall apart, "the probability (that it will hit individual or something - red) is about like meteorite strikes that happen respective times a year", but - he reserved - "can't be completely excluded."
"There is simply a greater hazard of individual being struck by lightning throughout his life (than this object - ed.)" – explained.
Mission of Venus
The USSR launched Space 482 in 1972 as part of a mission to Venus, nevertheless due to a failure The ship never made it to this planet. Since then, the probe has been orbiting around the Earth, gradually lowering altitude, from the first 9800 km to the present 370 km.
Langbroek predicts that The probe will last the re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere as it was built to withstand flight through the dense carbon dioxide atmosphere of Venus. According to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics It would be better if the thermal shield failed, due to the fact that then the ship would burn at the entrance to the atmosphere. Otherwise "a semitone metallic object will fall from the sky" - he warned. At the same time, scientists uncertainty that the parachute in which the probe is equipped will work after 53 years.
Under global law, Russia, as a legal successor to the russian Union, remains the owner and organization liable for Space 482, in accordance with the Treaty on Space of 1967.
PAP
