New Zealand, which lies off the coast of South Pacific Ocean, hosts one of the geekiest junkyards ever known: an underwater cemetery filled with over 140 Russian resupply spacecraft, six Russian Salyut space stations and four Japanese HTV cargo craft. As soon as a satellite or spacecraft reaches the end of its mission, it must …
Engineers usually place decommissioned spacecraft into graveyard orbits to reduce the likelihood of colliding with active satellites or even other spacecraft. However, larger objects like space stations that don’t explode upon reentry are sent to a spacecraft cemetery located at Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean. What is a spacecraft cemetery? Spacecraft cemeteries are designated …
