Part of a failed Soviet spacecraft that’s been circling Earth for the last 53 years is about to come crashing down. The Kosmos 482 probe launched by the USSR in 1972 was intended to collect data from the surface of Venus, but was marooned in orbit following a malfunction in its upper-stage rocket booster.

Scientists are keeping an eye on Kosmos 482, which is forecast to plunge back to Earth next week. We just don't know exactly when or where it will land.

A Soviet spacecraft launched in the 1970s for a mission to Venus is now expected to make an uncontrolled return to Earth, according to space debris-tr.