Image via Twitter: @Astro_Doug
Astronaut takes incredible images of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria [photos]
Simply spectacular!
Image via Twitter: @Astro_Doug
Col. Douglas Hurley, shared beautiful images of South Africa. The images were taken from space, and Hurley simply captioned it:
“South African cities at night. Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria.”
Hurley recently made history when he, along with Robert Behnken, become the first two American citizens to return to Space from USA soil after the Space programme was scrapped nine years ago.
Both astronauts have been training for years for the mission, which would move the United States closer to no longer being reliant on Russia for crewed flights to and from the International Space Station.
![South Africa from space]()
Image via Twitter: @Astro_Doug
Bob and Doug making history
Behnken and Douglas have been flying to the ISS on Soyuz rockets since the US shuttle program ended in 2011. Speaking to reporters ahead of the launch, Hurley said “it’s been a long road”.
He said he was looking forward to being one of the first humans to fly in the Crew Dragon capsule. All went according to plan, and the Dragon capsule docked itself to the orbital outpost of the station approximately 24hours after the historic launch.
To adhere to the new norm of a pandemic-riddled world, the 27 May launch took place without the usual crowds of spectators. However, the event was live streamed for all the world to see.
South Africa from space
About a decade ago, just days ahead of the 2010 World Cup final, the European Space Agency (ESA) shared an Envisat image that featured the vibrant colours and varied terrain of South Africa.
The image was taken on 19 June 2020 and showed Johannesburg and the Vaal Dam. Snow was also visible on Lesotho’s Drakensberg Mountains towards the East, while the emerald green vegetation from the Outeniqua Mountains is visible in the southwest.
In addition, Port Elizabeth is visible to the west of the clouds where the coastline forms a crescent. From there, trace the coast all the way eastwards to Durban, South Africa’s third-largest city.
