Screengrab from Scott Kelly’s Twitter account
An astronaut from National Aeronautics and Space Administration has posted on Twitter an image of the Spratlys (Kalayaan Island Group) in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) as seen from space.
“From @Space_Station looks like a serious expansion project on #SpratlyIslands in the#SouthChinaSea. #YearInSpace,” posted Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) on Twitter at 1:54 a.m. Manila time on Tuesday.
It was not mentioned on which part of the Spratlys the image was taken.
According to Nasa, the International Space Station is a microgravity laboratory in which an international crew of six people live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.
As of posting time, the tweet had 331 retweets and 479 favorites.
China has been doing massive reclamation activities in the South China Sea, including in the Spratlys.
It has been said that China, which claims most parts of the disputed waterway, has been doing the construction activities for military purposes.
Other claimants of the South China Sea include Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia. RC