In the middle of nowhere: This is what NASA is doing in the loneliest place in the world

The idea of ​​being thousands of miles across the ocean from land might be a terrifying prospect for thalassophobics. In fact, this place exists. It is called Point Nemo and is 2688 kilometers from Ducie Island, the nearest piece of land mass.

You can find it on Google Maps under the coordinates 45°52.6S, 123°23.6W. Point Nemo is located between Chile and New Zealand in the middle of the South Pacific. For comparison: the international space station ISS is 408 kilometers above the earth. You can see where the ISS is at the moment here.

Even if the isolated place is reminiscent of Nemo, the cartoon fish, because of its name, fish and other sea creatures do not have a nice life there. The site is considered biologically inactive. Living things have little chance of surviving there, since the wind can hardly bring any nutrients there due to the great distance from land. Strong ocean currents prevent nutrient-rich water.

The point owes its name to the character Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. Incidentally, the point was discovered by a Croatian surveyor in the 1990s thanks to a computer program.

Although the place is difficult to reach and not suitable for living, it has an important function.

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