Japanese astronaut shares stunning images of the UAE's coastline from space

Photos show The Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, World Islands and Abu Dhabi city

Japanese astronaut Wakata Koichi has shared remarkable images of Dubai’s coastline taken from the International Space Station. Photo: Wakata Koichi

The images show the The Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Deira Island and the World Islands, as well as the UAE's capital, Abu Dhabi, on the far right. Photo: Wakata Koichi

Dubai's coastline is favourite with astronauts in space. Photo: Thomas Pesquet

KhalifaSat, the UAE's first domestically built satellite, captured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in 2021. Photo: KhalifaSat / Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre

Jebel Jais, the UAE's highest summit at about 2,000 metres, in Ras Al Khaimah. This image was taken on January 25, 2021.

Sharjah Mosque, the largest mosque in the emirate, as captured from space on May 8, 2021.

A Japanese astronaut has shared remarkable images of the UAE's coastline taken from the International Space Station.

Wakata Koichi posted the images on Twitter showing The Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, the World Islands and Abu Dhabi city.

The landmarks are some of the most popular among astronauts to photograph because of their unique design, visible from the orbiting science laboratory.

“Beautiful coast of the United Arab Emirates!” Mr Koichi said on Saturday.

“We can see the Palm Islands of Dubai very clearly from the ISS.”

Mr Koichi is an astronaut for Japan space agency Jaxa and serves as a member of the UAE Space Agency’s advisory committee.

He has more than 20 years of experience in space flight, having flown on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz missions.

This month, he flew to the ISS as part of the Nasa/SpaceX-Crew 5 mission.

Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi will be on the next human space flight mission that SpaceX is launching for Nasa.

The Crew-6 mission is expected to launch next spring and will carry four astronauts to the space station.

If all goes well, Dr Al Neyadi will become the first Arab astronaut to go on a long-duration space mission.

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