Point Nemo: The spacecraft graveyard

In the middle of the South Pacific lies a place so remote that it seems to belong to another world. Point Nemo is the ocean location farthest from any land, about 2,688 kilometers from the nearest coast.

Its closest land neighbors are Ducie Island, Motu Nui near Easter Island, and Maher Island in Antarctica. The name comes from Captain Nemo, Jules Verne’s fictional character, while “nemo” also means “nobody” in Latin, an apt name for one of the loneliest places on Earth.

Point Nemo is so isolated that when the International Space Station passes overhead, astronauts roughly 400 kilometers above the surface can be closer to the site than anyone on land. Ocean currents also limit the movement of nutrients into surface waters, leaving the region with relatively little marine life. It is, in effect, a blue desert.

The area has another unusual distinction: it is associated with a spacecraft graveyard. For decades, space agencies have directed retired vehicles and structures toward the remote waters. More than 260 spacecraft have reportedly been sent there in controlled operations since 1971.

Spacecraft in low orbit can sometimes be guided into the atmosphere using remaining fuel or propulsion systems. Friction at high speed causes much of the structure to heat up and disintegrate. With larger vehicles, however, some fragments may survive, so agencies aim for remote ocean regions far from populations. NASA and its partners have planned a controlled reentry for the International Space Station around 2031, when its size will make an uncontrolled fall a considerable risk.