The place where your nearest neighbours are in space

In the middle of the South Pacific there is a patch of water exactly like any other, except for one detail: it is the place on the planet farthest from any land. It is called Point Nemo —after the captain of the Nautilus— and the nearest coast lies some 2,700 kilometres away, split between three uninhabited islets.

The consequence is a strange one: when the International Space Station crosses directly above it, about 400 kilometres up, the astronauts on board are closer to that spot than any other human being. Its nearest neighbours, quite literally, pass by in orbit.

No one has ever set foot there, because there is nothing to set foot on. But we do use it: space agencies steer retired satellites and spacecraft towards it, because it is the place with the least risk of landing on someone. Resting on that seabed are hundreds of pieces of space junk, including the Mir station.

And the exact point was not found by an explorer with a ship, but by an engineer with a computer, in 1992. Very few places were left to discover. There were still a few left to calculate.