UAE’s first astronaut in space shares a breathtaking picture of Mecca from the ISS

• The first astronaut from the UAE, Hazza Ali Almansoori shared an aerial view of Islam’s holiest site, Mecca, from the International Space Station (ISS).
  
• The Masjid Al Haram (Grand Mosque) can be seen in the center of the photograph.
  
• He only one of two astronauts selected for the UAE Space Program.
  

The first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hazza Ali Almansoori to visit space, just sent back a breathtaking aerial view of Mecca — Islam’s holiest site.

Taken from the International Space Space (ISS), the Masjid Al Haram (Grand Mosque) can be seen centered in the image with the caption, “As the place that lives in the hearts of Muslims and they turn to for prayers.”

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‎صورة فضائية لمكة المكرمة، حيث تهفو قلوب المؤمنين، وتلهج ألسنتهم بالابتهال إلى الله، مع كل الحب للمملكة العربية السعودية الشقيقة. An incredible image of Mecca from the @iss

A post shared by Hazzaa AlMansoori (@astro_hazzaa) on Oct 2, 2019 at 2:07am PDT

The night before, Almansoori shared an image of the UAE as it was lit up during the night.



Almansoori took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 25 September 2019 along with rookie US astronaut Jessica Meir and Russian commander Oleg Skripochka. He’s only one of two people who were selected for the UAE space programme in 2018.

Like numerous international astronauts, Almansoori comes from a military background, who flew F-16s.

The astronaut is set to return to Earth on Thursday after he completes the eight-day mission.