But the Venera mission, which launched from Kazakhstan on March 31, 1972, failed long before the Soviets could attempt to touch down on the hellscape. Something went wrong with an engine burn to put the vehicle on its Venutian trajectory, and the uncrewed spacecraft got stuck in space.

What we know about the Soviet spacecraft that will return to Earth this week - As the last remnant of the Soviet Venus program left in Earth’s orbit, Kosmos 482 is not your average piece of space junk

Launched in 1972, the failed Venus probe has been stuck in Earth orbit ever since. Now it's hurtling back down to Earth.