Kosmos 482, a Soviet spacecraft that never made it beyond Earth’s orbit on its way to Venus, is due to come crashing down on 9 or 10 May

Some recent spaceflight spectacles offer hints about what you might see if Kosmos 482 happens to fall through the sky above you.

In 1972, a Soviet spacecraft bound for Venus failed to escape Earth's gravity and got stuck orbiting our planet. Now, 50-odd years later, the spacecraft's landing capsule is due to plummet back to Earth.