NASA shares images showing how Dubai has changed over 40 years

When The Burj Al Arab opened in 1999 it was the world’s tallest hotel, which suddenly put a spotlight on the city and cemented its reputation as a tourist spot.

The final picture shows Dubai in 2017, and it’s almost unrecognisable. The satellite image was taken at night, which shows off the lights from the road networks and buildings. The Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Village Circle and Jebel Ali Port can easily be spotted due to their distinctive shape, but the rest is a bit trickier to see (probably because the photograph was taken from space).

If you look closely you can make out Bluewaters Island, Dubai Marina and The Address Montgomery Golf Club. Zoom in and have a look around.

If our eagle eye is correct, this final image looks like the same picture that French astronaut Thomas Pesquet recently shared from the International Space Station.

While on his mission, Pesquet has shared a number of stunning pictures and videos. He is currently on a six-month mission, and is regularly posting images and videos for his 492,000-strong Twitter following.

Recently he posted a video of the space station’s robotic arm moving around the Earth.

The robotic arm “Canadarm” turns 16 today, always vigilant, we will use it on Saturday to berth Cygnus spacecraft!

— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro)

He shared another image with the caption: “The more I look at Earth the more I see that every shape and form is represented – whether man-made or created by nature.”

Just to show it’s not easy to spot the from space. Especially with a photobomb 😉 The 2nd picture zoom shows a bit more…

— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro)