New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute may be out

Two images: on the left, an off-white ball-shaped spacecraft capsule marked by the letters "CCCP"; on the right, four images of a roughly ball-shaped white splotch on a white background.

That soon-to-reenter Cosmos 482 is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details.

The former Soviet Union's Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. But that country's attempted Venus probe ran amuck during its rocket-assisted toss to the cloud-veiled world. Payload leftovers were marooned in Earth orbit, specifically the spacecraft's lander module/capsule intended to parachute onto the hellish landscape of Venus.