POINT NEMO: THE WATERY SATELLITE GRAVEYARD
Image: Unsplash
6 March 2024
Sitting in the middle of the Pacific ocean is Point Nemo, the "loneliest place on Earth". The nearest land is 2,700 km away
Image: Google Earth
As per NASA, it is named after the famous submarine sailor from Jules Verne's 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea'
Image: Pixabay
This "pole of inaccessibility" is South of Easter Island and north of Antarctica
Image: Unsplash
This extremity has made Point Nemo an attractive target for some unlikely prospectors - the space industry
Image: Unsplash
Since the 1970s, almost 300 retired craft, including space stations and satellites, have been dumped here
Image: Pexels
NASA announced it will do the same with the ISS, which has been in orbit for 25 years and will be retired by 2031
Image: Unsplash
Ocean surrounds this point as far as the eye can see, and plunges to depths of over 13,000 feet
Image: Pixabay
It has also emerged as an ideal place to dump discarded metal because of its weak ocean currents
Image: Pixabay
The currents and remoteness of the area limit the flow of nutrients to this part of the ocean, thus not affecting the marine life
Image: Pexels
The extremely intense UV rays make it a challenging place for life to survive and thrive
Image: Pixabay
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