A spacecraft cemetery exists in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
- 7 years ago
POINT NEMO — Nations around the world bring down old spacecraft when possible in the most remote place on Earth called Point Nemo, Business Insider reported.
Smaller satellites burn up in the atmosphere upon reentry, but larger pieces can reach Earth's surface.
The spacecraft graveyard is around 1,450 nautical miles away from any land. It lies in the South Pacific in a no-man's land between Australia, New Zealand and South America, according to the BBC.
This oceanic pole of inaccessibility covers an area around 580 square miles (1,500 sq km) and is home to more than 260 dead spacecraft, mostly Russian, the BBC reported.
China lost control of its Tiangong-1 space station in March 2016, which is now expected to crash into the Earth by early 2018.
Since the Chinese are not in control of the spacecraft, they are currently unsure where pieces of the station will make contact.
Experts won't be able to make predictions until days before Tiangong-1 is expected to break up in the atmosphere.
Smaller satellites burn up in the atmosphere upon reentry, but larger pieces can reach Earth's surface.
The spacecraft graveyard is around 1,450 nautical miles away from any land. It lies in the South Pacific in a no-man's land between Australia, New Zealand and South America, according to the BBC.
This oceanic pole of inaccessibility covers an area around 580 square miles (1,500 sq km) and is home to more than 260 dead spacecraft, mostly Russian, the BBC reported.
China lost control of its Tiangong-1 space station in March 2016, which is now expected to crash into the Earth by early 2018.
Since the Chinese are not in control of the spacecraft, they are currently unsure where pieces of the station will make contact.
Experts won't be able to make predictions until days before Tiangong-1 is expected to break up in the atmosphere.