Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi shares images of Saudi Arabia’s Mecca from space

Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi has shared footage of Saudi Arabia’s Mecca aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Al-Neyadi tweeted a video of the Kingdom’s holy site on his Twitter page, calling the footage “a gift for Salman’s children on these blessed nights”.

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

He added: A dedication to the country of the Two Holy Mosques, the landing site o revelation and the land of the message, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

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The footage showed Mecca and Medina lit up and Saudi’s Arabia’s Grand Mosque glowing in the dark.

The Emirati astronaut has regularly been sharing footage onboard ISS since embarking on his six-month mission in March.

Earlier this week, he shared a video clip of his zero-gravity exercise routine.

Al-Neyadi is seen strapping himself into an unusual-looking treadmill which uses a harness and springs to counter the effects of zero-gravity.

The harness pulls him downwards as he goes for his jog, simulating how gravity would work on Earth.

“Strapping in for a run on the space station can be quite the adventure,” al-Neyadi said in a tweet, adding that he has been “embracing the unique challenges that come with working out on the ISS.”

Taking pictures from space is one of his “favorite activities”, al-Neyadi said while sharing stunning images o a sandstorm of last month.

Sultan al-Neyadi will be the first Arab to complete a spacewalk when he exits the ISS on April 28.

He follows in the footsteps of other Arab astronauts including Emirati Hazzaa al-Mansouri who became the first Arab on the ISS in 2019, and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan bin Salman who became the first Arab to travel to space in 1985.

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