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Nardo Ring Italy

The Nardo Ring is a striking visual feature from space, and astronauts have photographed it several times. The Ring is a race car test track that is steeply banked to reduce the amount of active steering needed by drivers. The Ring lies in a remote area on the heel of Italy's "boot," east of the naval port of Taranto and encompasses a number of active (green) and fallow (brown to dark brown) agricultural fields. In this zone of intensive agriculture, farmers gain access to their fields through the Ring via a series of underpasses. Winding features within the southern section of the Ring appear to be smaller, unused race tracks.