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Failed Soviet Venus lander Kosmos 482 crashes to Earth after 53 years in orbit
Kosmos 482 has come home.
Most large pieces of space junk — decrepit satellites and spent rocket bodies, for example — break apart during their fiery trips back to Earth, creating artificial meteor showers. In that scenario, "the kinetic energy at impact is similar to that of a 40-55 cm [16 to 22 inches] large (after ablation) meteorite fragment," Langbroek wrote in a blog post recently. Telescopic images of the Soviet Kosmos 482 Venus descent craft in Earth's orbit, taken by satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands, suggest that the probe's parachute may be out.
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