Giant Spacecraft Could Crash Land in Montana: Here’s Where

BUTTE, MT - It survived a failed mission to Venus.

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Now it might be heading for Earth, and Montana could be in the blast zone.

What's Happening: A Soviet Surprise from the Sky

Back in 1972, the Soviet Union launched Kosmos 482, a space probe meant to brave the volcanic furnace of Venus.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t make it.

Instead, thanks to a misfired engine burn, the spacecraft ended up trapped in a lopsided orbit around Earth and it's been circling overhead ever since.

Now, more than 50 years later, that very same probe is about to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. And depending on where it comes down, Montana might find itself on the list of possible landing sites.

Wait…Montana? Are You Sure?

Yep. According to experts tracking the descent, Kosmos 482 could re-enter the atmosphere sometime between May 8 and May 12, crashing anywhere between 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south latitude.

That covers a staggering swath of the globe—including all of Montana.

If you're wondering whether this is likely to crash in your backyard: the odds are still incredibly slim.

But we are within the zone of possibility, and that’s enough to stir up some Big Sky buzz. Well, at least I thought so...

Is This Thing Dangerous?

The spacecraft was built to survive Venus’s extreme heat and pressure.

Translation? It’s absurdly durable.

Unlike most objects that disintegrate on reentry, Kosmos 482 may not burn up.

That means we could be talking about a 1,000-pound, 3-foot-wide hunk of Soviet metal slamming into the Earth in one piece.

Not exactly your typical Montana meteor shower.

What Happens If It Lands Here?

Experts say a Kosmos 482 crash wouldn’t explode like a movie meteor—but if it hit the ground, it could create a hefty impact crater.

And while it’s not radioactive or toxic, it’s still a massive object falling at thousands of miles per hour. You’d want to be far away.

Still, the likelihood of it hitting a populated area remains extremely low. Most spacecraft land in oceans or remote regions. And let’s be honest: Montana has plenty of open space.

Bottom Line:

• A decades-old Soviet probe is crashing back to Earth.

• Montana is technically within the possible landing zone.

• The object is heavy-duty and may survive reentry.

• The odds of it actually hitting anyone? Very low.

• But if it did…well, that’d be one heck of a tourist attraction.

So if you see something streaking across the sky this week, it might not be a shooting star—it might just be a ghost from the space race coming home.