STS039-72-060

Smoke from the burning oil fields to the north and south of Kuwait City, seen on the south shore of Kuwayt Bay almost totally obscures the view of the tiny, but oil rich, nation of Kuwait (29.5N, 47.5E). During the brief war between Iraq and the Allied forces, many of the oil wells in Kuwait were destroyed and set afire. For several months, those fires burned out of control, spewing wind borne smoke and ash for hundreds of miles.