Spacecraft cemetery: Difference between revisions

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The defunct [[space station]] ''[[Mir]]''<ref name=":8">{{cite web |title=MIR Space Station is now reentered – March 23, 2001 – 06:45 UTC |date=22 March 2001 |url=http://www.zarya.info/Tracking/Mir/Mir-Re-entry2.php |access-date=1 May 2015}}</ref> and six [[Salyut programme|Salyut]] stations<ref name=Gizmodo/> are among those that have been [[ditching|ditched]] there. Other spacecraft that have been routinely [[Scuttling|scuttled]] in the region include various [[cargo spacecraft]] to the [[International Space Station]], including Russian ''[[Progress (spacecraft)|Progress]]'' cargo craft,<ref>{{cite web |title=Progress Ship returns to Earth with trash and no longer needed stuff |date=26 July 2013 |series=Progress M-18M mission updates |url=http://www.spaceflight101.com/progress-m-18m.html |access-date=1 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801203442/http://www.spaceflight101.com/progress-m-18m.html |archive-date=1 August 2013}}</ref> the [[JAXA|Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]] [[H-II Transfer Vehicle]],<ref name="nasa20120923">{{cite web |author=Love, John |date=21 September 2012 |title=Lead Increment Scientist's highlights for week of Sept. 10, 2012 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/wklysumm_week_of_sept10.html |access-date=23 September 2012}}</ref> and the [[ESA|European Space Agency]]'s [[Automated Transfer Vehicle]].<ref name="nasa20081006">{{cite web |title=Image of the Day gallery |date=6 October 2008 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1188.html |access-date=2013-05-05}}</ref><ref name="esa20110621">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.esa.int/atv/2011/06/21/end-of-mission/ |publisher=[[European Space Agency]] |title=Automated Transfer Vehicle page |access-date=21 June 2011}}</ref><ref name="stdc20121004">{{cite web |title=Mission accomplished for ATV Edoardo Amaldi |date=4 October 2012 |website=Space-Travel.com |url=http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Mission_accomplished_for_ATV_Edoardo_Amaldi_999.html |access-date=8 October 2012}}</ref> A total of more than 263&nbsp;spacecraft were disposed in this area between 1971 and 2016.<ref name=":3">{{cite magazine |last=Stirone |first=Shannon |date=13 June 2016 |title=This is where the International Space Station will go to die |magazine=[[Popular Science magazine]] |url=http://www.popsci.com/this-is-where-international-space-station-will-go-to-die |access-date=16 June 2016}}</ref> The [[International Space Station]] is slated to end up in the spacecraft cemetery upon "retirement".<ref name=":12"/>

 

 

== Purpose ==

 

== Incidents ==

 

The decommissioning of [[Tiangong-1]], the first Chinese space station, was an unsuccessful targeted re-entry at Point Nemo. During an extended mission phase, control was lost due to a power failure, leading to an uncontrolled landing outside of the spacecraft cemetery.<ref name="Gizmodo" />

 

== Laws ==

[[Space debris]] is any form of man-made object orbiting the Earth that no longer serves a useful function.<ref name=":32"/> Currently more than 27,000&nbsp;pieces of space debris are orbiting earth at high velocities, threatening the safety of human and robotic missions, as well as causing damage to spacecraft.<ref name=":32"/> There are few space debris removal processes, one of which is depositing large spacecraft in the spacecraft cemetery on earth, although, due to exhausted maneuvering fuel reserves, in the past this was rarely done.

 

 

==See also==

* [[Wrecking yard]]

* [[Space sustainability]]

 

==References==