First khalifasat snap features dubai’s palm jumeirah
DUBAI — Days before the launch of KhalifaSat, excitement ran high as to what would be the first image that would be sent by the remotesensing satellite from space.
Pundits and journalists said the Palm Jumeirah was the obvious choice and they were right.
On October 31 at 1.32pm, KhalifaSat passed over Dubai and took a snap of the iconic 5.72sqkm tree-shaped man-made archipelago at an altitude of 613km.
Engineers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) presented the first official photo taken by the KhalifaSat to the media on Monday.
Ammar Al Mheiri, manager of image processing at the centre, said the Palm Jumeirah photo was taken with a 70cm resolution, which means each pixel of the image represents 70cm of the ground photographed.
“The first photo appeared dark but we processed it and the satellite image revealed a clear picture of the sand, water, vegetation, establishments and cars at Palm Jumeirah,” Al Mheiri said.
“We can even detect the size and type of cars, but we cannot detect the plate as the picture was taken from atop. KhalifaSat also beamed test shots of the Arabian Gulf and the World Islands, but they were not processed as they appeared too dark,” Al Mheiri added.
The proud Emirati team presented the photo of Palm Jumeirah taken by KhalifaSat to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces; and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the MBRSC, on Saturday at Za’abeel Palace in Dubai.
“This is the fruit of our 12 years of labour (the UAE started its space programme when Sheikh Mohammed signed a decree in February 2006 creating the Emirates Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the precursor of the MBRSC),” said Abdulla Harmoul, KhalifaSat launch project manager.
We can even detect the size and type of cars but we cannot detect the plate as the picture was taken from atop.” Ammar Al Mheiri, manager of image processing, MBRSC