Shaheer Ahmed
Saudi Arabia’s holy cities of Makkah and Madina were the subject of footage released by UAE astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, who filmed them from the ISS from space, as reported by Al-Arabiya.
In a tweet, he described the video as “a gift for Salman’s children on these blessed nights”. He dedicated it to “the country of the Two Holy Mosques, the landing site of revelation and the land of the message, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
The film showed a brightly lit Grand Mosque of Saudi Arabia and the cities of Makkah and Madina. Since he began his six-month journey in March, Al-Neyadi has routinely posted footage from the International Space Station.
من محطة الفضاء الدولية،
إهداء لعيال سلمان في هذه الليالي المباركة 🌙⭐️
إهداء لبلاد الحرمين الشريفين، مهبط الوحي وأرض الرسالة، المملكة العربية السعودية. 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/3OQTg4CgXb— Sultan AlNeyadi (@Astro_Alneyadi) April 17, 2023
The images captured from the space of Makkah Madina give a wholesome view. A video of his workout in microgravity was just posted online. Al-Neyadi used a treadmill with a harness and springs to mitigate the negative consequences of weightlessness. As he runs, the harness pulls him down, simulating the pull of Earth’s gravity.
Al-Neyadi shared stunning shots of a sandstorm from last month and noted that capturing pictures from space is one of his favorite pastimes.
When Sultan al-Neyadi leaves the International Space Station on April 28, he will make history as the first Arab to conduct a spacewalk. He follows in the footsteps of other Arab astronauts including the Emirati Hazzaa al-Mansouri, who in 2019 became the first Arab on the ISS, and the Saudi prince Sultan bin Salman, who in 1985 became the first Arab to fly to space.
