An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) photographed this iconic landscape while orbiting over Australia’s aptly-named “red center.” Seen from ground level, this majestic sandstone rock formation stands 348 meters (1,120 feet) tall and is 3 kilometers (1.85 miles) long. Uluru is the ancient name used by Indigenous Australians; Ayers Rock is the name that was given to the landform by explorer William Christie Gosse in the 1800s.
Uluru is one of Australia’s major tourist attractions (more than 270,000 visitors in 2014), with operations run by people from the small town of Mutitjulu. A 16-kilometer (10-mile) road circles the rock, and a disused airstrip lies near the town. Darker greens indicate swaths of vegetation that thrive because of the many natural springs along the footslopes of the rock. Farther away, desert scrub vegetation on the drier soils of the linear sand dunes has browner tone
And that is pretty awesome!
ReplyDeleteThat is an amazing place. I climbed the Rock back in '74; Ayers Rock is now known by its Aboriginal name Uluru, and is administered by the Aborigines too; they seldom let anyone climb it anymore, as it is a sacred place to them. It's a real shame, the view from there is unique. However, there are still amazing sights all around, and the Rock changes with every breeze and cloud and throughout the day; no one ever sees the same Rock. Well worth a visit if you're there, but it's a long, long way from anything else!
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