Kosmos 482 was part of the Soviet Union's storied Venera program of Venus exploration. The probe launched toward the second planet from the sun in 1972 but never got there; its rocket suffered an anomaly, stranding Kosmos 482 in an elliptical orbit around Earth.

The craft was last detected over Germany and is believed to have completed an uncontrolled re-entry after a botched mission to Venus left it orbiting Earth for more than 50 years.

The time part or all of the dead probe is expected to impact Earth continues to narrow in on Friday overnight into Saturday morning.