What happens to old spacecraft?

What happens to old spacecraft?. We know when new ones are launched and sometimes when they don't make it to where they are going but after that, they just seem to go quiet.
From the very first man-made object to orbit the earth to the ISS we look at where do they end up.

Sponsored by
Craig Fleming, Florian Hesse, Pascal Hausammann

Also : Alan Johns
Allan Versaevel
Andrew SMITH
Cameron Dyer
Chad Mellor
Cody Belichesky
Collin Copfer
coolascats
Daniel Suarez
Daniele Noacco
David Stevens
Doogymoogy
Giacomo Catenazzi
Gordon Likar
Harry Whelan
Johan Rombaut
Jonathan Merage
Jorn Magnus Karlsen
Kevin Hinnen
Lorne Diebel
László Antal
Matthew MacKenzie
Michael Koeneke
Michael Waespy
Mitchel J. Mullin II
Morten Grønvold
Oscar Anderson
P.S.
Phiroze Dalal
Robert Goldwein
Rodney Aries
Ryan Kay
S.A. Ridley
SHAMIR
Sk1er
Spanky McButtcakes
stefan Hufenbach
Thomas Branch
Tim Allen
Walt Dennig

And a big thank you to all our other Patreon supporters.

Presented by Paul Shillito

Written and Researched by Paul Shillito

Images and Footage:
NASA, ESA, SpaceX, SES

Music
Hello 6am, Ponderin Valhalla, Videomusik by MylarMelodies
Dreamer by Divkid
Both via the Youtube library

[DimitarStanev]

There is something incredibly calming yet a bit terrifying about those monuments of human ingenuity and craftsmanship wandering for billions of years without being affected by whatever happens on earth. Makes you wonder what their distant future looks like and would they stumble upon something eventually. I'm specifically talking about the 5 probes.

[kateh]

I never said it but pretty much every single of your videos is awesome

[zapfanzapfan]

We are envious of Saturn so we're building our own ring system :-)

[HiPhOpKzNpAo]

How amazing is the story about voyagers

[reggiep]

I've never really been deep into space and astronomy but this channel has a covered a load of highly interesting subjects besides space and I often share all the videos with my Dad who's been a space boffin his whole life.

The production values and scripts of this channel are some of the best work around on YouTube and material like this actually has the capacity to threaten most TV productions in many areas except for the sheer amount of money that big companies can invest and recoup.

Regarding the subject of this video, I've always had an interest in the increasing blanket of space waste, where it's removal or recycling appears to have been an after thought, but thankfully there are slim measures to help deal with it by natural collision with entities to ensure it eventual breakdown yet is still far from a perfect solution.

Keep up the great work.

[sheepewe]

Another great video! Thank You for still providing us with such high quality content!

[benespection]

The quality of these videos is astounding. Thank you so much!

I was surprised you didn't mention the failed Venera 8's impending return to Earth, given that that one was designed to land on Venus and will probably survive atmospheric reentry due to its shielding.

[brianthird]

I'm taking a certificate in astronomy because of these videos, keep up the great work.

[nachocortizo]

I can´t imagine how proud the designers and engineers must be. Nice video!

[Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

FWIW: IF aerospace propulsion ever becomes cheap enough - or *someone* is willing to put up the *$$$* - I think it would be *very interesting* if someone could rendezvous with some of these very old inoperative satellites {or even the Apollo 10 lunar module Ascent stage} to examine them and see what the long-term exposure to space has done to them.

Perhaps even bring one or more of the smaller ones back to Earth.

[palakaman]

It's always mind blowing how many pieces of satellites and junk are constantly orbiting at any given time.

[ArcturanMegadonkey]

These old machines are amazing! hats off to the engineers who are probably still tracking them and decoding their data!
regards the junk we have up there at the moment: I used to be into astroimaging, I had a 200mm Newtonian telescope with a HEQ5 goto mount which would track stars and planets, often while looking through the eye piece I would see sats go by and sometimes 2 at once in different orbits.
only are we making a mess on land down here on earth but we're making a mess up there!
As a race we can't pat ourselves on our backs for the mess we've made!

[anandbhattacharya]

Your videos are so detailed and so we'll presented, I really enjoy watching your videos. Thanks and keep up the good work.

[samsen]

Some of the BEST stuff on YT are from your channel.
Love all you do and how you put it all together.
Keep up the great work.

[Andrew.quigley]

13.38 man that's some depressing stuff. These crafts may still be out there when we're long gone.
Keep up the great effort on these videos.

[radwilly]

Dear Paul Shillito,
Can you please make a video about you and your crew? I would really like to know what got you into making these videos and who you are!

[samfallow]

Another excellent video. Answers every question as it enters my mind.

I love Voyager 1 & 2, I feel we all live with them and their journey hasn't even begun.

[badfairy]

I know it sounds crazy but the crafts going forward forever brings a tear to my eyes.

[Dyros]

This type of content with it's awesome level to detail, research and production values makes me ever so glad to have "cut the cord" years ago so worth it.

[rathishatutube]

""although they would be long dead they could quite reasonably be expected to outlive the human race and the even the earth itself" these words really shook me....