Half-tonne piece of Soviet rocket may have crashed through atmosphere over south of England
A car-sized piece of Soviet rocket has crashed back through the atmosphere, after 53 years in orbit.
Scientists haven't yet pinpointed its location but one organisation has predicted it had re-entered over southern England early on Saturday morning.
It is not immediately known how much of the rocket survived the blazing hot descent, with scientists suggesting it had burned up or broken up at the last minute, sometime between around 7am and 8.30am.
Cosmos 482 launched in 1972 and been set to land on Venus but it became trapped in orbit after a stage of the mission failed.
Scientists tracking the lander as it finally began to fall to Earth believe it decayed as it re-entered the atmosphere.
EU Space Surveillance and Tracking posted on X saying it "decayed within the last estimated re-entry window".
The European Space Agency said the craft didn't appear on radars in Wachtberg, Germany, suggesting "reentry occurred [...] between 06:04 UTC and 07:32 UTC".
However, the six major space organisations tracking the re-entry have placed it anywhere from over the Atlantic to Germany and even Australia, with astronomer Dr Marco Langbroek mapping their predictions.
He says EU Space Surveillance and Tracking has calculated it crashed through the atmosphere above the south of England.
Cosmos 482 lifted off from the USSR's spaceport in what is now Kazakhstan during the Soviet era.
The upper stage of the rocket, which was responsible for powering it out of orbit, failed.
"The upper stage didn't work right and it left just the probe in orbit around the Earth," said Smithsonian astronomer Jonathan McDowell.
Parts of the rocket re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in the 1980s but one chunk remained in orbit, which was thought to be debris left from the spacecraft.
2:05
"Years later, I went and looked at the data and went, 'This debris [...] stayed up a lot longer than the other stuff. It seems to be denser. It's not behaving like debris," said Mr McDowell.
"I realised that it was the Venus entry capsule from Cosmos 482, which has got a heat shield on it [strong enough] to survive the crushing force of Venus's atmosphere."
0:28
Mr McDowell. said it weighed about "half a tonne" and was "about three feet across".
"As it smashes into the atmosphere, going at this enormous speed, the energy gets converted into heat [and] you get this fireball."
If it hit the Earth, Mr McDowell said Cosmos 482 would be "going only a couple of hundred miles an hour".
"But it's still a half-tonne thing falling out of the sky at a couple of hundred miles an hour. That's going to hurt if it hits you," he said.
2:44
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
British rocket launch backed by Labour falls further behind in space race
A British rocket start-up backed by Labour has pushed back the date of its first launch and is hunting fresh funding as the UK faces falling further behind in the space race. Orbex, which in January received a £20m investment from the taxpayer, confirmed its first test launch from the Shetland Islands would be in 2026, rather than later this year as hoped. The start-up is building its 62ft Orbex Prime rocket at a factory in Scotland, which is intended to carry small satellites into space. After securing taxpayer support, Orbex is now seeking a further £120m in funding from private investors over the next four years to bring its ambitions to reality, it said in a submission to MPs. The company is also pushing for further government backing, calling for support for its bid to build a new, larger rocket for the European Space Agency. The space organisation, of which the UK is a member, is offering companies up to £144m for its European Launcher Challenge as Europe seeks alternatives to its current reliance on Elon Musk's SpaceX. Orbex has been lobbying for Labour's £7bn National Wealth Fund to back the space sector, which it said in a consultation filing to MPs could 'level the playing field and unlock significant value for the UK economy'. The delay to Orbex's mission comes after a series of setbacks for Britain's fledgling launch industry. After a failed launch from Cornwall in 2023, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit went bankrupt. Since then, no new attempts at an orbital mission have gone ahead. Now, a number of small rocket companies are seeking to launch from UK soil, largely from Saxavord, a spaceport on the Shetland Islands, although they have faced delays. German start-up, Rocket Factory Augsburg, is still targeting a mission this year from Shetland, although its last test ended with its rocket exploding on the launchpad. Skyrora, a Scottish start-up, is hoping to launch from Shetland next year. A spokesman for Orbex said: 'There are many factors at play in determining our launch schedule, including licensing and launch logistics. This is not unusual.' The spokesman added government support would be needed to build a European rocket: 'National funding commitments and private investment will both be needed for winning bidders. 'UK Government support for our sector will send a clear signal to ESA that UK orbital launch companies like Orbex are a smart choice and long-term partner.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
JK Rowling hails BBC newsreader Martine Croxall after she overrules autocue's 'pregnant people' line to say 'women'
JK Rowling has hailed BBC newsreader Martine Croxall after she overruled an autocue line which said 'pregnant people' to say 'women' instead. The Harry Potter author, 59, who has been vocal on the subject of trans people and what she calls 'sex-based rights' for several years, has praised the journalist, 56, for it on social media. The clip from a recent BBC News episode saw Ms Croxall introduce new research on the number of heat-related deaths expected amid Britain's current heatwave. But as the autocue prompted her to warn 'pregnant people' to take care in the heat, she first read the term out before overriding it, with a smirk and eyebrow raise. She said: 'Malcolm Mistry, who was involved in the research, said the aged, pregnant people - women! - and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions.' Ms Rowling reposted the clip on X, captioning it: 'I have a new favourite BBC presenter.' Ms Croxall herself soon responded to a commenter who had praised her move as 'brilliant', adding: 'I hope you don't get hauled before the BBC News beak.' The broadcaster simply replied: 'Braced x.' The original clip was first reposted to X by campaign group SEEN In Journalism, which says it 'seeks to restore accuracy and impartiality to media coverage of sex and gender'. They captioned their post, 'Good to see accuracy on BBC News', followed by an emoji of a pregnant woman. Therapist and gender-critical campaigner James Esses has also weighed in online to praise Ms Croxall: 'The BBC is so utterly enthralled to gender ideology that it took a brave newsreader to correct the teleprompter instruction to say "pregnant people" by instead saying "women" afterwards. 'Let's hope she isn't cancelled for her rebellion!' Former BBC journalist Sean McGinty - whose LinkedIn says he co-founded the broadcaster's new music show BBC Introducing, in a more than 20-year career with the broadcaster before leaving in 2024 - backed the newsreader too. He said: 'She's fab, also brave and strong enough to do so from within.' Ms Croxall is one of the main presenters of BBC News, having started work for the broadcaster more than 30 years ago, in 1991, and for its news programme in 2001. Other commenters agreed with Ms Rowling's admiration for Ms Croxall too, with one saying: 'What is her name? I only want her as a BBC presenter.' Ms Croxall herself soon responded to a commenter who had praised her move as 'brilliant', adding: 'I hope you don't get hauled before the BBC News beak.' The broadcaster simply replied: 'Braced x' Therapist and gender-critical campaigner James Esses has also weighed in online to praise Ms Croxall Former BBC journalist Sean McGinty - whose LinkedIn says he co-founded the broadcaster's new music show BBC Introducing, in a more than 20-year career with the broadcaster before leaving in 2024 - backed the newsreader too Other commenters agreed with Ms Rowling's admiration for Ms Croxall too Another said of the veteran broadcaster: 'The worst thing is that your post probably just resulted in her never being on the BBC again once her bosses see it.' Ms Croxall made headlines in April for challenging a pro-transgender activist who said April's Supreme Court ruling on the definition of sex within the 2010 Equality Act might need some 'clarification'. In a live interview with the presenter just after the ruling, campaigner and ex-Labour MSP candidate Heather Herbert - who has now joined the Greens - said: 'I feel like I'm under attack.' She clashed with Ms Croxall throughout the segment, as the host questioned how it was an 'attack', adding she felt it was just a 'clarification of what the word "woman" means'. Ms Croxall said the case made clear 'sex is binary and immutable' when the activist said local authorities which have not protected single-sex spaces on the basis of biological sex may need to reconsider in light of the ruling. When Ms Herbert asked for 'clarification', the presenter replied: 'The ruling is that "woman" means biological sex.' It comes after Ms Rowling's views on sex and gender have received renewed attention in recent months, following the Supreme Court ruling in April. Judges ruled the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. This means transgender women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces if deemed 'proportionate'. It marked the culmination of a long-running legal battle between the Scottish government and women's group For Women Scotland. It was over the definition of a 'woman' in Scottish legislation mandating 50 percent female representation on public boards. The case centred on whether somebody with a GRC recognising their gender as female should be treated as a woman under the 2010 Equality Act. The outcome will have implications in England, Scotland and Wales. Ms Rowling reacted to the ruling on X: 'It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they've protected the rights of women and girls across the UK. '@ForWomenScot, I'm so proud to know you.' She later added: 'Trans people have lost zero rights today, although I don't doubt some (not all) will be furious that the Supreme Court upheld women's sex-based rights.' And after sharing another post on X, suggesting she and her husband were clinking glasses of champagne in celebration, she followed up it with a selfie from on board her $150 million superyacht puffing a cigar in celebration. The writer, who reportedly helped fund the women's group which brought the case, captioned the post: 'I love it when a plan comes together. #SupremeCourt #WomensRights.' Meanwhile, opponents have said they fear the ruling could put trans and non-binary people at renewed risk of attacks and discrimination. Judge Lord Hodge recognised 'the strength of feeling on both sides' and cautioned against seeing the judgement as 'a triumph for one side over another'. He stressed the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination. The judge said: 'The Equality Act gives transgender people protection not only against discrimination through the protected characteristics of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, and harassment, in substance in their acquired gender.' He added: 'On the one hand women, who make up one half of the population, have campaigned for over 150 years to have equality with men and to combat discrimination based on their sex. That work still continues. 'On the other hand, a vulnerable and often harassed minority, the trans community, struggle against discrimination and prejudice as they seek to live their lives with dignity.' Human rights organisation Amnesty International has since also emphasised: 'The court has been clear that trans people are protected under the Equality Act against discrimination and harassment. 'The ruling does not change the protection trans people are afforded under the protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment', as well as other provisions under the Equality Act... 'The Supreme Court itself made clear that the vilification of a marginalised minority group is absolutely wrong.' 'All public authorities in the UK need to unequivocally enforce protections for trans people against discrimination and harassment.'
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Record number of Asian hornets trapped in Alderney
A record number of Asian hornets have been trapped in Alderney, a volunteer group has Asian Hornet Group said 365 Asian hornet queens had been caught in traps and three primary nests destroyed, a significant increase on previous years that experts have attributed to warm spring temperatures and consistent easterly winds in the Channel 2024 a total of 99 queens were trapped and 26 in 2023, said the first Asian hornet, an invasive species which feeds on native bees and wasps, was found in Alderney in 2016. David Jarolík, the group's administrator, asked volunteers to now remove the Asian hornet traps to avoid catching other urged them to look for secondary nests which the hornets would now be forming."The possibility of discovering secondary nests is practically island-wide," he thanked volunteers for their support and asked islanders to send a photo and details to the group if they suspected they had found an Asian hornet or nest.
