When you purchase through links on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it work .
It ’s been called the " lonely position on earthly concern " — a location so remote it would take day to traverse the 1,670 miles ( 2,700 klick ) of sea between this full stop and the nearest patch of land — which , even then , is just a clustering of petite island inhabited only by birds .
sit down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean , this isPoint Nemo , also known as the " pole of inaccessibility . " South of Easter Island , and Second Earl of Guilford of Antarctica , sea surrounds this period as far as the centre can see , and dip to depth of over 13,000 feet ( 4,000 metre ) .
The International Space Station is due to be deorbited in 2031.
This extremity has made Point Nemo an attractive target area for some unconvincing prospectors : the space manufacture .
Satellite graveyard
Since the 1970s , global space curriculum have plunged almost300retired craft , including outer space stations and satellites , into the sea at Point Nemo .
NASArecentlyannouncedit will do the same with the International Space Station ( ISS ) , which has been in orbit for25 years , and which will be formally retire by 2031 . At357 feet ( 109 metre ) longand 925,335 Sudanese pound ( 419,725 kg ) , it will be the largest addition to the space burial ground at Point Nemo .
Sinking spacecraft into the sea might seem like an uttermost step . But the alternative — to leave it permanently circulating in quad — " is not a solution,“Stijn Lemmens , a quad debris analyst with theEuropean Space Agency , told Live Science .
Map showing Point Nemo, the most remote place on Earth.
There are now40,000known man - made objects revolve our planet , order in size from 2 inch ( 5 centimetre ) to giant craftiness like the ISS . The denser this soup of space debris becomes , the greater the hazard that individual piece will jar . This would cause them to speed up , potentially spark acascade of collisionsthat would shatter space rubble into small and smaller fragments — " to the period that you have clutter up your orbital environment , and it ’s no longer safe to put an operating space vehicle in there , " Lemmens told Live Science .
Related : Sci - fi inspire tractor beams are real , and could clear a major space dust trouble
So , the ocean ’s remotest depth have become the next best choice . To minimize the risk of death and death as space vehicle crash land , expert " take care around the world for where nobody is live , where nobody is flying and where you have no boats , " Lemmens said . " Point Nemo is one of them . "
Many do n’t actually end up in the ocean , as they plainly burn up under intense pressure and amphetamine when they re - enter Earth ’s ambiance . Likewise , when it is finally decommission , some parts of the ISS will burn and disintegrate as it tumbles through the atm .
But that wo n’t be enough to dispatch its Brobdingnagian , hulking pattern . What ’s required is a cautiously choreograph stock to wreak it down to Point Nemo on its last scope , to ensure that the remain fuel gets used up before it sinks .
There are two other sites where the world ’s spacecraft assemble a weak grave : one in the Indian Ocean and another in the South Atlantic Ocean . But Point Nemo ’s uninterrupted stretching of sea supply the " widest possible arena to [ kingdom space vehicle ] safely , " which is why it is the preferent situation for the ISS , Lemmens explain .
An ocean dead zone
Nevertheless , is it really a undecomposed idea to sink hunks of metal anywhere in the deep sea ? What about the Pacific ’s fragile nautical lifetime ?
agree to research , this is another reason why Point Nemo is an ideal satellite graveyard . Weak ocean currents in the part and the farawayness from landlimit the flow of nutrientsto this part of the sea .
This , couple with highly acute UV ray , make it a ambitious place for lifespan to survive and thrive .
Studies have foundstrikingly depressed biomass in the part , and it is trust to moderate very little biodiversity .
When researcherssampledthe control surface tightness of microbes around Point Nemo in 2019 , they found " probably the lowest electric cell numbers ever measured in oceanic surface water supply , " study author Bernhard Fuchs , from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology , allege in a statementat the time .
— place rubble : Why is debris from rocket salad and satellites orbiting Earth a trouble ?
— Falling metal infinite junk is change Earth ’s upper standard pressure in way we do n’t fully infer
— 15 of the weirdest thing we have launched into space
That does n’t think plump outer space debris into the ocean is a double-dyed solution , Lemmens total . Recently , researchers identifiedparticles of aluminumin the atmosphere , which they shape could n’t have come from meteorites or Earth . Instead , they are likely from disintegrating ballistic capsule as they re - introduce the atmosphere — which means they ’re potentially causingpollutionbefore they reach Point Nemo ’s depths .
As a result , " There ’s a really renewed involvement in , okay , well , are we doing this safely ? And what are the consequences of bringing objects back down ? " Lemmens said . " As a consequence of go on space white , we should make certain we do n’t pollute the Earth needlessly , either . "
Jellyfish Lake : Palau ’s brine pool with a toxic bottom and surface waters brim with jillion of man-of-war
deep substance discern swirling across the surface of the Baltic Sea — Earth from space
The unvarying surveillance of modern life could exacerbate our brain function in ways we do n’t fully understand , disturbing report suggest
