Part of a Soviet spacecraft is likely to crash on Earth in the next few days.
Kosmos 482 was a Soviet mission to Venus, launched in 1972, but it never managed to leave Earth’s orbit.
The craft has since separated into four pieces and one of the pieces, which is believed to be the lander probe, is expected to enter the Earth’s atmosphere in the next few days. According to NASA, the debris could make it to Earth’s surface without burning up in the atmosphere.
The lander probe apparently weighs half-a-ton and is about a metre wide.
It is unclear where the piece of space junk is likely to land, but given that most of the planet is covered by the ocean, scientists are not too concerned that it could land in an inhabited area.
[Image: https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/media/soviet-union-1972-stamp-006-venera-8-5db698?zoom=true]