99% of People Don’t Know: Which Place on Earth Is Closest to Outer Space?

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Bhupati Barman

Which Place on Earth Is Closest to Outer Space

I’m sure that 99% of people don’t know which place on Earth is closest to outer space. No worries! Let’s begin.

Some places on Earth are so remote and mysterious that reaching them is harder than going to space. One such location exists in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of kilometers from the nearest human settlement. This place is so isolated that it is easier to reach space than to visit it.

Welcome to Point Nemo, the farthest point on Earth.

What is Point Nemo?

Point Nemo, named after the submarine captain in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, was found in 1992 by Croatian engineer Hrvoje Lukatela. It is located deep in the South Pacific Ocean, equally far from the shores of South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

This place is not owned by any country and has no permanent residents. Scientists call it an “oceanic pole of inaccessibility”—the point farthest from any land.

Point Nemo is so remote, even the International Space Station is closer than the nearest land.

Why is It Closer to Space Than to Land?

The nearest land to Point Nemo is Ducie Island, which is roughly 2,700 kilometers (about 1,680 miles) away. In contrast, the International Space Station orbits just 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth’s surface. That means astronauts in orbit are closer to Point Nemo than any human on land.

Because of its remote location, space agencies such as NASA and Roscosmos use Point Nemo as a spacecraft graveyard. When a satellite or space station is decommissioned and cannot safely return to Earth, it is directed to crash into the ocean there, minimizing any risk to people or property.

Between 1971 and 2016, more than 260 spacecraft have been deliberately crashed into this area, including cargo ships, modules, and parts of space stations. For this reason, it is sometimes called the “Spacecraft Cemetery.“

A Place Few Will Ever See

Visiting Point Nemo is nearly impossible. It lies far beyond any shipping routes or flight paths. There are no islands, no ships, no signs of civilization for thousands of kilometers. The silence here is so complete that even the sound of waves or a cracking stone would seem unnaturally loud. It is considered one of the loneliest places on the planet.

Its haunting isolation has long intrigued scientists, oceanographers, and space agencies alike. For most people, however, Point Nemo remains an unseen mystery, concealed within the vast blue of the Pacific.

Conclusion

Point Nemo is more than a location. It’s a reminder of how vast and unknown our planet still is. While technology takes us to the stars, Earth continues to hold secrets of its own. One of them lies quietly beneath the waves, closer to space than to civilization.