Russian spacecraft turned space junk to crash soon
A Russian spacecraft designed to burnish the nation’s faded space glory in a mission to one of Mars’ moons has turned into one of the heaviest, most toxic pieces of space junk ever.
It will come crashing down to Earth in just a few days.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos’ latest forecast has the unmanned Phobos-Ground probe falling out of Earth’s orbit Sunday or Monday, with the median time placing it over the Indian Ocean just north of Madagascar. It said the precise time and place of its uncontrolled plunge can only be determined later, and unless someone actually spots fiery streaks in the sky, no one may ever know where any surviving pieces end up.
Space experts agree it’s unlikely to pose big risks.