The sky is falling…a part of it

Friday night or Saturday morning a -year-old Soviet spacecraft is due to re-enter Earth s atmosphere As I explained in my May What s Up In The Sky feature the heat-resistant Soviet spacecraft Kosmos launched on March bound for Venus After a effective launch into a temporary orbit around Earth a difficulty with a timer cut an engine burn prematurely The spacecraft was unable to leave Earth s orbit It s been circling Earth for years and will reenter the atmosphere around Friday or Saturday according to satellite expert Marco Langbroek To get the latest information on how to see the doomed satellite go to the Heavens Above website enter your location and click on the Kosmos link in the left column You will get visible pass information I at present have two visible passes in the re-entry window but that may change You ll need binoculars to see the dim spacecraft if it passes over your location If you are super lucky to see it re-entering the atmosphere it will look like a fireball or a very bright meteor Because of our planet is covered by water it is the bulk likely any remains of Kosmos will get the deep six I m hoping someone somewhere gets a pic and or video for us to see and be amazed While you re at it you should bookmark Heavens Above It s an invaluable store for tracking objects in the sky like the International Space Station and other satellites You will need to check Heavens Above frequently for updates as there will be refinements made to the time and location of re-entry Follow Greg Redfern on Facebook Bluesky and his daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration Source