Introduction -- Fire onboard: Apollo 1 -- Death in a fireball: Soyuz 1 -- Nerves like wire rope: Gemini 6A -- Emergency landing in the Pacific: Gemini 8 -- Death at supersonic speed: X-15 -- Odyssey ...

Kosmos 482 was intended as a successor to Soviet probe's like Venera 4, seen above. In 1972, the Soviet Union launched a pair of space probes destined for Venus. While the USSR’s Venera 8 successfully ...

An artist’s concept of a Soviet spacecraft on the surface of Venus. A defunct spacecraft from the former Soviet Union that has been stuck in space for more than half a century is, at last, about to ...

The story of Laika, the first dog in space, feels like the beginning of an inspirational biopic. She began as a stray in Moscow and was lovingly given the name Kudryavka(Russian for "little curly one" ...

A defunct spacecraft from the former Soviet Union that has been stuck in space for more than half a century is, at last, about to come home. Kosmos-482 was launched on a voyage to Venus in March 1972 ...

Workers prepare Venera 4, a Soviet space probe, for its flight to Venus' atmosphere in 1967. Sovfoto / Universal Images Group via Getty Images In 1972, the Soviet Union’s Venera 8 spacecraft became ...

A failed Soviet Venus lander's long space odyssey has come to an end. The Kosmos 482 probe crashed to Earth today (May 10) after circling our planet for more than five decades. Reentry occurred at ...