Cosmos (or Kosmos) 482's orbit has slowly brought it closer to our planet since 1972, and now it's on the cusp of plummeting ...

But if the Cosmos 482 object is indeed a Soviet reentry capsule, it would be equipped with a substantial heat shield, meaning it “might well survive Earth atmosphere entry and hit the ground ...

NASA predicts the decaying probe could reenter Earth's atmosphere within a week. Cosmos 482 was one in a pair of identical Venus atmospheric lander probes that launched in 1972. Part of a Soviet ...

Space debris re-enters Earth every day. Most burn up in the atmosphere. But Russia's 1972 failed Venera mission probe Cosmos 482 is different.