ISS or International Space Station astronauts have spotted an ancient heart-shaped oasis from Egypt.
The NASA logo on a protective box for a camera near the space shuttle Endeavour April 28, 2011 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida as preparations are under way for an April 29 launch of Endeavour, which will be its last flight. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA
Now, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA's Earth Observatory shared snaps of the heart-shaped sighting from space just in time for the Valentine's day celebration, as per a news story from Space.com.
ISS Astronauts Spot Heart-Shaped Oasis in Egypt
The folks aboard the aging ISS, which NASA plans to crash into the ocean in 2031 as it retires, looked down on our home planet way back in May 2021, wherein they spotted an interesting sighting from the surface of the Earth.
While astronauts in the orbiting space station were looking at the sandy deserts of Egypt, they stumbled upon an oasis that appears to have formed a heart shape.
It turns out that the massive heart shape seen from space is an ancient oasis that goes by the name Faiyum Oasis, which reportedly extends to more than 450 square miles or 1,2000 square kilometers.
Space.com noted that its size could be compared to at least one and a half of the overall area of the five boroughs of New York City.
NASA stated that the heart-shaped Faiyum Oasis was created on top of the lakebed of Lake Moeris in ancient Egypt.
The United States space agency said that the heart-shaped oasis was once home to human settlement way back 8,000 years ago.
In this handout image provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavour's final sortie on May 23, 2011 in Space. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli captured the first-ever images of an orbiter docked to the International Space Station from the viewpoint of a departing vessel as he returned to Earth in a Soyuz capsule.
It also provided these folks with various resources during ancient times, including fishes and birds. Not to mention that it also housed the now-endangered slender horned gazelle back then.
On top of that, the heart-shaped Oasis was also the place where marvelous engineering innovations thousands of years ago or in ancient history were showcased.
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Heart-Shaped Oasis in Egypt
As per the geography department of the University College London, shortly known as UCL, the oasis is "one of the earliest massive national hydrological projects in the world."
The UCL went on to add that the "engineering kings" were behind the massive oasis project in ancient times, which is basically the 12th Dynasty kings.
That said, due to the "engineering kings" thousands of people have benefited from the life that the oasis sustains, which includes towns, villages, as well as orchards, and farms.
Now, astronauts orbiting 250 miles from Earth have spotted this oasis of life as a heart-shaped gray patch in the middle of the sandy Egypt desert.
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Written by Teejay Boris
