‘Spacecraft Cemetery’: Final Destination For Decommissioned Rockets, According To Scientists

A spacecraft cemetery will be the final destination for some space objects to get them out of the Earth's orbit once the rockets and robotic arms have completed their tasks.  This is according to the European Space Agency currently conducting a probe on how to eliminate dangerous debris from space.

The spacecraft cemetery, which is also called Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, has already been used by Russia to bury more than 190 objects. According to reports, the cemetery consists of a portion of the Pacific Ocean, which is 2,000 miles north of Antarctica. The United States, on the other hand, had buried 52 objects, while Japan had six, Europe had eight and SpaceX crashed only one, Inverse reported.

Based on research, when a spacecraft is not securely decommissioned, bad things may arise. In 1978, a possible scenario was raised by NASA scientist Donald Kessler, citing collisions between low Earth orbiting objects that could create more debris in a domino effect that can most likely prevent making orbit or spaceflight in the future. In fact, in 2009, the effects of these debris were noted when the Russian and American satellites collided and produced thousands of tiny and dangerous bits of debris, of which some made it to the flight path of the International Space Station after two years.

The spacecraft cemetery is intended to get rid of decommissioned objects out of orbit and at a far enough distance from any human being. Once the orbiting objects go back to the Earth's atmosphere, they are often brought by an enormous heat and destruction. When objects are crashed in the isolated portions of the Pacific Ocean, less than 0.0001 percent of chance was calculated by NASA for any objects or part of the debris to kill a person on its re-entry.

The spacecraft cemetery is also expected to become the final resting place for the ISS by 2028.  The goal of decommissioning and returning is going to be monumental as the 500 tons worth of football field sized station will come barrelling down to the Earth, according to  PopSci.