International Space Station (ISS) astronaut Chris Cassidy tweeted some dramatic shots of Hurricane Genevieve on Wednesday as the extreme weather system came close to the Baja California peninsula.
The three stunning images (below) show a swirl of thick cloud several hundred miles below the space station, with no land in sight.
#HurricaneGenevieve pic.twitter.com/gwdVL54pVQ
— Chris Cassidy (@Astro_SEAL) August 19, 2020
The most recent weather reports indicated that Hurricane Genevieve had weakened from a Category 4 hurricane to a Category 1, and would likely move along the peninsula, from the south, on Wednesday night. Despite its deteriorating strength, it could still bring potentially damaging winds of up to 90 mph.
Vantage point
The enviable vantage point aboard the ISS has seen many astronauts grabbing the space station’s camera kit to capture harsh weather systems as they batter communities back on terra firma.
Below is an image of 2018’s devastating Hurricane Florence taken by NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold.
Another amazing image, this one of Typhoon Maysak that hit the Philippines in 2015, was captured by European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
But it’s not just extreme weather systems that catch the eye of astronauts on the space station. NASA’s Doug Hurley, who recently returned to Earth following a historic trip to the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, spent some of his two-month stay taking beautiful shots of Earth in calmer conditions. Digital Trends posted a piece showing some of his best pictures.
Astronauts Chris Hadfield and Scott Kelly also posted some incredible photos of Earth during their time aboard the space station.
A few years ago British astronaut Tim Peake showed off the station’s camera kit, which at that time included five Nikon D4 bodies and lenses that included a Nikkor 14-24mm, f2.8; Nikkor 28mm, f1.4; Sigma 50-500mm, f4.5-6.3; Nikkor 400mm, f2.8; and Nikkor 800mm, f5.6.
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