India, May 10 -- An out-of-control Soviet-era spacecraft is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere and crash on Saturday. The object, known as Cosmos 482 (also spelled Kosmos 482), was originally launched by the Soviet Union in March 1972 as part of a mission to explore Venus. It was designed to make a soft landing on the planet and study its atmosphere. However, the mission failed, and the spacecraft remained trapped in Earth's orbit for more than 50 years.

The reentry window for Cosmos 482 is projected to fall between 10 p.m. ET on Friday and 6:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, according to CNN.

The European Space Agency's tracker further narrows that window, estimating the spacecraft's descent will occur around 2:30 a.m. EDT (06:37 UTC) on Sat...