Airports seem much smaller and less stressful from space

Thomas Pesquet is a NASA astronaut and photographer, because having just one of those jobs wasn't enough. He photographs the world from above in the most spectacular way possible – from space.

King Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi Arabia 

Pesquet has previously shot landmarks and geographical features of the earth, but now he's turned his lens to airports. A native of France, his favourites are European airports, but considering the space station he calls home is constantly rotating the earth, he manages to get in a bit of variety.

Dakhla Airport, Western Sahara

The airports seem deceptively tiny from above. Even Heathrow in London, which sees 75 million passengers per year travelling on 473,231 flights, looks insignificant from space with its two tiny runways.

Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom

Some of the most intriguing shots are of the smaller runways. The infamous Marseille-Marignane airport – with a runway which drops off straight into the water – looks even more death-defying from space. There's also an abandoned sand landing strip in the Seychelles, surrounded by beautiful blue water.

Seychelles

Pesquet's pictures also capture the variety between the landscapes in different regions of the world. From lush greenery in Lyon to a sandy airport in the Sahara – each airport is different and equally beautiful.

Marseille-Marignane Airport, France

He even captured Melbourne's Tullamarine airport and a seemingly abandoned airport in the Australian outback, surrounded by strange excavation markings.

Abandoned airport, Australian Outback

One thing is for sure, though: airports shot from space seem a lot more serene than when you're bolting through them while a flight attendant is reading your name over the loudspeaker.

Melbourne Tullamarine, Australia

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Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport, France