Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS047-E-111699 Date: May 2016
Geographic Region: YEMEN
Feature: ADEN, HARBOR, AIRPORT, ISLANDS, CRATER, GULF OF ADEN


IMAGE
 
Port of Aden, Yemen, southern Arabian peninsula

Orbiting almost directly over the port of Aden, a crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this detailed shot of a rugged, extinct volcano (at image left), and the flat sand spit next to it (at image center and right) and the big bay protected by the volcano--that now all form the port of Aden. Part of the city is even known as the Crater neighborhood (at image lower left) that looks down onto the docks of the old port (the old port is protected by a small island with an 11th century fortress, the Sira Fortress, which is still used). Swell trains appear on the side of the volcano exposed to the open sea as thin, parallel blue lines (at image lower left). The tourist part of Aden is Gold Mohur (at image top left) which takes advantage of the beaches and surf of this open coastline, all against the dramatic backdrop of the volcano. On the well protected bay side of the volcano lies the much larger harbor of Al Mu'alla (at image center), the economic hub of Aden.



The flat lands of the sand spit allowed numerous salt ponds to be constructed, where sea water can be evaporated in the almost constant sunshine. These bright, angular shapes are the most striking visual features seen from the ISS (at image right), apart from the volcano. Salt production has been a major export from Aden for centuries. The Aden International Airport (the former British Royal Air Force station RAF Khormaksar), Yemen's second biggest airport, also occupies these flat surfaces. The runways are 3.5 km long (2 miles). The city's diplomatic missions and the main campus of Aden University surround the airport.



Aden lies near the southern end of the Red Sea, at a critical point where major sea lanes converge--between Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf and India, and the long shoreline of East Africa. To protect sea lanes to India and the Far East, Great Britain occupied Aden and the surrounding southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula inland from 1839 to 1967. For the same reason the small enclave of Djibouti on the opposite coast in Africa at the southern end of the Red Sea.




Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 104k
Mission: ISS047  
Roll - Frame: E - 111699
Geographical Name: YEMEN  
Features: ADEN, HARBOR, AIRPORT, ISLANDS, CRATER, GULF OF ADEN  
Center Lat x Lon: 12.8N x 45.0E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera:: N6
 
Camera Tilt: 21   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 1150  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: SW   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:  
 
Date: 20160509   YYYYMMDD
Time: 094659   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 13.7N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 46.1E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 288   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 217   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 76   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: COAST, CRATER, ISLAND, PENINSULA, VOLCANO  
Water Views: BAY, GULF, SEA  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: AIRPORT, HARBOR, UNIVERSITY  
City Views: ADEN, DJIBOUTI  

Photo is not associated with any sequences


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