The soon-to-reenter Soviet Cosmos 482 Venus probe is getting increased attention ... has snagged a first set of images of only the capsule in Earth orbit. "We see a clear compact ball!

An illustration of Soviet space probe Venera 5 or 6 the film, ‘The Storming of Venus’ from 1969. Credit: Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images “With a mass of just under 500 kg ...

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 ...

On February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union kept its lead in the space race by successfully ... better known as the Ocean of Storms. Luna 9 took the first up-close images of the moon’s landscape ...