That soon-to-reenter Cosmos 482 is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details.

The former Soviet Union's Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. But that country's attempted Venus probe ran amuck during its rocket-assisted toss to the cloud-veiled world. Payload leftovers were marooned in Earth orbit, specifically the spacecraft's lander module/capsule intended to parachute onto the hellish landscape of Venus.

"As this is a lander that was designed to survive passage through the Venus atmosphere, it is possible that it will survive reentry through the Earth atmosphere intact, and impact intact," reported Marco Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands. "There are many uncertain factors in this though, including that this will be a long shallow reentry trajectory and the age of the object," observes Langbroek, who now pegs the current nominal forecast for its reentry on May 10, plus/minus 2.2 days.