Space Exploration - The Times Of Central Asia

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Baikonur Cosmodrome Gears Up for 70th Anniversary; Trespassers Detained

Two European tourists have been detained while trying to take photographs at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian media reported on Thursday, as officials prepare to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Russia-operated spaceflight center on June 2. “The men were trying to sneak to the Buran rocket and take photos," an unidentified law enforcement official told Russia’s state news agency TASS, which reported on Thursday that the men, who were from Czechia, also known as the Czech Republic, were released after being fined 5,000 rubles, or $60. The trespassers were the latest in a long list of space enthusiasts and adventure-seekers who have tried to get close to a Soviet-era facility that pioneered early space exploration and remains a vital if aging part of Russia’s space program. The disused Buran spacecraft, a space shuttle that was developed in the 1970s and 1980s by the Soviet Union, is an object of particular fascination. The Buran flew once in 1988, but the program was abandoned because of high costs and a lack of purpose. Russian and Kazakh media, meanwhile, are reporting on plans for anniversary celebrations at the cosmodrome, which is serviced by a city of the same name in the desert environment in southern Kazakhstan. Some rocket mock-ups will be on display and an open-air museum is being set up, the Kazinform news agency reported. One of the mock-ups is 22 meters high and is a model of the Soviet N1 lunar rocket that failed in its four test launches in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Space journalist Anatoly Zak was not impressed by the planned display, saying on X that he is concerned about reports that Russia is destroying “artifacts and documents” that illuminate the historical record of the Soviet space program. Another piece of Baikonur history occurred on Saturday when a Venus-bound lander probe, which launched from the cosmodrome in 1972 but never got out of Earth’s orbit, made an uncontrolled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Russian space agency Roscosmos said the lander fell in the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, though questions remain about its fate, including whether it burned up during re-entry or somehow remained intact.

Soviet-Era Spacecraft Venus program Space Exploration Baikonur

Mysteries Remain Over Soviet Spacecraft That Reentered Earth’s Atmosphere

The saga of a Venus-bound lander probe that launched from Soviet-run Kazakhstan in 1972 and made an uncontrolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere on Saturday had triggered wide international interest, partly because there was so much uncertainty about its return. Would the spacecraft make it through the atmosphere intact? Where exactly would it end up? One thing is for sure: the Cosmos 482 spacecraft is down (and no one has to worry anymore about the very remote possibility of an encounter with flying spacecraft debris). But the answers to some of the mysteries about the lander still appear to elude scientists, or at least are the subject of continuing debate. Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Telegram on Saturday that the lander “entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 9:24 Moscow time, 560 km west of Middle Andaman Island, and fell in the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta.” The Russian statement was extensively reported by media organizations around the world. However, Dr. Marco Langbroek, a scientist based in the Netherlands, said on X that “it is not at all clear how accurate that position is and what it is based on, and whether it better represents the other estimates.” Some other space agencies and institutions had predicted other reentry points, including in the Pacific Ocean. “There is a planet-size discrepancy in some predictions about the Soviet Venus probe's impact point this morning, but everybody seems to agree it is down and it is in the ocean (our condolences to all "hope it is in my backyard" wishes),” space journalist Anatoly Zak wrote on Saturday. For its part, NASA concurred with Roscosmos that the lander probe had plunged into the ocean west of Jakarta, but the U.S. space agency didn’t say how it arrived at the conclusion. “Because the probe was designed to withstand entry into the Venus atmosphere, it is possible it survived reentry,” NASA said. The spacecraft had a titanium protective shell originally designed to get through the extreme atmosphere of Venus, which has the hottest surface of any planet in the solar system. There was also uncertainty at the European Space Agency, which said in its last update on Saturday that the spacecraft hadn’t been spotted over Germany as expected and that it hadn’t received “any reports on visual direct observations of the final re-entry, or on any impacts on the ground.” The Soviet Union launched Cosmos 482 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, then a Soviet republic. The probe never got out of Earth’s orbit and moved closer to Earth’s atmosphere over the decades. Today, Russia operates the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which retains a popular allure for its role in early space exploration and is still a vital part of the Russian space program.

Baikonur Space Exploration Soviet-Era Spacecraft Venus program Uzcosmos

Soviet-Era Spacecraft May Crash to Earth This Week, Uzbekistan Among Monitored Zones

As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, a Soviet spacecraft launched from Baikonur more than five decades ago is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere between May 9 and 11, 2025. Known as Kosmos-482, the probe was part of the Soviet Union’s Venera program aimed at exploring Venus. However, due to a launch failure in 1972, it never escaped Earth’s orbit and has been circling the planet ever since. Kosmos-482 was engineered to endure the extreme conditions of Venus, making it significantly more robust than typical satellites. Its descent module, weighing around 495 kilograms (approximately 1,100 pounds), features a durable titanium shell, raising the possibility that parts of the spacecraft could survive re-entry and reach the Earth's surface. Experts estimate the spacecraft will re-enter at speeds of up to 27,000 kilometers per hour (around 17,000 miles per hour). The potential impact zone spans between 52 degrees north and south latitude, covering much of the inhabited world. Despite this wide range, the risk to human life is regarded as minimal. Most likely, the spacecraft will either disintegrate in the atmosphere or fall into the ocean. In Uzbekistan, the national space agency Uzcosmos has assessed the probability of debris landing within the country at between 0.3% and 0.5%. Ahror Agzamov, head of the New Technologies Department at Uzcosmos, stated that while the risk is low, the agency is closely monitoring the situation. “While most of the spacecraft will burn up upon re-entry, the nearly half-ton titanium sphere, designed to operate under Venus’s harsh conditions, poses a particular concern,” Agzamov explained. “It is expected to survive re-entry, and despite being equipped with a parachute, that system may not function after 53 years in space. The object could strike the Earth at speeds up to 500 kilometers per hour.” Agzamov cautioned the public against interacting with any debris. Due to the possibility of hazardous chemical residues in the spacecraft’s components, any discovered fragments should be reported immediately to local authorities, he stated. Uzbekistan’s Role in the Venera Program Uzbekistan has a historical connection to the Soviet space program. The former Tashkent Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau contributed to the later stages of the Venera missions by developing soil sampling and drilling equipment used on Venera-13 and Venera-14 (1982), and Vega-1 and Vega-2 (1985). These devices were tested at a facility in the village of Nevich in the Tashkent region. As Kosmos-482 begins its final descent, space agencies around the world continue to track its trajectory to provide timely updates and ensure public safety.

Space Exploration Baikonur

Soviet Space Probe to Fall to Earth 50 Years After Baikonur Launch

In 1972, the Soviet Union launched a Venus-bound lander probe called Cosmos 482 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which was then a Soviet republic. The probe, which never got out of Earth's orbit, is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in a week or so. “Because the probe was designed to withstand entry into the Venus atmosphere, it is possible the probe (or parts of it) will survive reentry at Earth and reach the surface,” U.S. space agency NASA said on Friday. “It is thought that a malfunction resulted in an engine burn which did not achieve sufficient velocity for the Venus transfer and left the payload in this elliptical Earth orbit. The lander probe orbit has been decaying over time and it is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere around 10 May 2025,” NASA said. Right now, it’s hard to say where the lander will make its return. It’s possible that the spacecraft, or chunks of it, could survive reentry through the Earth’s atmosphere instead of burning up. After all, it has a titanium protective shell originally designed to get through the extreme atmosphere of Venus, which has the hottest surface of any planet in the solar system. Dr. Marco Langbroek, a scientist based in the Netherlands, said on the SatTrackCam Leiden (b)log that he doesn’t think the lander’s parachute deployment system will work during the “uncontrolled” reentry. “There are many uncertain factors in this though, including that this will be a long shallow reentry trajectory, and the age of the object,” Langbroek said. “The risks involved are not particularly high, but not zero: with a mass of just under 500 kg and 1-meter size, risks are similar to that of a meteorite impact.” Today, Russia operates the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which retains a popular allure for its role in early space exploration and is still a vital part of the Russian space program. On April 20, one NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts made a parachute-supported landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan after a journey back to Earth from the International Space Station. The three men had launched from Baikonur and docked at the station on Sept. 11 last year, spending 220 days in space on that trip.

Baikonur NASA International Space Station Space Exploration

NASA’s Oldest Active Astronaut, Two Russian Cosmonauts, Land in Kazakhstan

Accompanied by two Russian cosmonauts, NASA astronaut Donald Pettit marked his 70th birthday on Sunday with a parachute-supported landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan after a journey back to Earth from the International Space Station. A Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying Pettit, as well as cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, touched down at 6:20 a.m. local time southeast of Zhezkazgan, a city in Kazakhstan’s central Ulytau region. The three men had launched from the Russia-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked at the station on Sept. 11 last year, spending a total of 220 days in space. “Rehabilitation and a meeting with loved ones lie ahead!” Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said on Telegram. Photographs and video of the landing showed Pettit giving a thumbs-up as support team members carried him away from the spacecraft. Ovchinin and Vagner were shown wrapped in blankets and smiling broadly. Pettit, Ovchinin and Vagner orbited the Earth 3,520 times and traveled 93.3 million miles during their mission, according to NASA. It was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight and he has spent a total of 590 days in orbit. Ovchinin, also a four-time spaceflight traveler, has spent just five days longer than Pettit in space. Vagner has logged 416 days in space on his two trips. While American John Glenn became the oldest person to go to space in 1998 at age 77, Pettit is NASA’s oldest active astronaut. During his time on the space station, Pettit researched how to enhance in-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities, advance water sanitization technologies, explore plant growth under varying water conditions, and investigate fire behavior in microgravity, NASA said. His photography also attracted followers back on Earth. “Mother Earth, I am coming home,” Pettit posted on X on Saturday.

Space Exploration Arrest Baikonur

Three Spaniards, One Australian Detained at Baikonur Cosmodrome

The Baikonur Cosmodrome in a remote part of Kazakhstan has long held allure for people – trespassers included - who are intrigued by its storied role as a facility that pioneered early space exploration and remains a vital part of Russia’s space program. Three Spanish citizens and one Australian were detained while trying to get into a restricted area housing old space infrastructure at Baikonur on Tuesday night, reported RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency. It cited an unidentified source. Another Russian media organization, Tass, later reported that the Spaniards had been released and that the Spanish embassy in Astana was working to help them. Tass did not report on the status of the Australian. The attempted break-in at the Russian-run base occurred in the area of the disused assembly and refueling complex of the Buran spacecraft, a space shuttle that was developed in the 1970s and 1980s by the Soviet Union, whose leaders were concerned that the U.S. space shuttle program posed a possible military threat. The Buran flew once in 1988, but the program was abandoned because of high costs and a lack of purpose. In 2022, British YouTuber Benjamin Rich documented his trip to Baikonur, where he was also detained by Russian authorities. The journey involved walking with a companion for many hours across the desert, shielding themselves from the sun with umbrellas. They were able to enter the decrepit Buran hangar and see the space shuttle but got caught by guards as they were leaving the facility. Rich said he and his companion paid a fine of $50 each and were released. Last year, RIA Novosti reported that two French citizens tried to reach Baikonur by the same method, but one died of dehydration during the arduous journey on foot. The first man to go into space, Yuri Gagarin, and the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova, took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which is run by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, under an agreement with the Kazakh government. Russia continues to launch spacecraft from there, sometimes in joint missions with NASA. The first launch from Baikonur in 2025 occurred on Feb. 28, when a Soyuz rocket hoisted a Russian spacecraft carrying three tons of food, fuel and other supplies that were delivered to the International Space Station.