A Soviet-area spacecraft that orbited Earth for more than 50 years crashed into the Indian Ocean on Saturday, Russian officials confirmed. "The Kosmos-482 spacecraft, launched in 1972, ceased to exist,

It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-ton spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit.

The spacecraft, stuck in orbit since 1972 after an unsuccessful mission to Venus, plunged into the Indian Ocean.