Unsuccessfully launched to Venus, the Soviet station in the coming years will fall to Earth, said astronomer, space historian Pavel Shubin.
He said that on March 27, 1972, Venera-8 station went into space. On March 31, the USSR attempted to launch its “twin”, but at the stage of the accelerating unit, which from the near-earth orbit had to lead the station to the interplanetary flight trajectory, the engine failed and the engine turned off.
The station, together with the accelerating block, remained in an elongated orbit, revolving around the Earth.
In order not to report a failure, instead of the name “Venus-9”, the device was called “Cosmos-482”. In turn, “Venus-8” landed on the surface of Venus and for the first time in the world transmitted scientific information about its surface.
“The station” Cosmos-482 “will return to us in the next 4-7 years,” Shubin said.
According to him, after the launch, the station, along with the accelerating unit, remained in orbit with the parameters of 220 km to 9800 km, and in the past half-century it lost about 7,400 km, reducing the apogee (the highest point of the orbit) to 2,400 km.
He added that it is not yet clear where the lander can land, but it will occur between 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south latitude.
