As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida and threatens to bring extreme weather and damage to the region, it is being tracked from space including by those on the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA has joined other federal agencies in urging residents in the area to evacuate. “FEMA is urging anyone in Milton’s path to evacuate immediately,” NASA is warning. “Do not wait. Milton is currently a Category 4 storm tracking toward central Florida and is anticipated to make landfall Wednesday night.”
The hurricane has been snapped from space by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, who has been observing its development over the last few days and has been photographing it through the window of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavor, which he used to travel to the ISS as part of the Crew-8 mission.
The Crew-8 astronauts had been scheduled to depart from the ISS this week and return to Earth, but their departure was delayed because of the extreme weather in Florida. They are now scheduled to depart on Sunday, October 13, at the earliest.
We flew over Hurricane Milton again today about an hour ago. It was not as symmetric as yesterday but it appeared larger today. pic.twitter.com/373GWmNcA6
— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) October 9, 2024
Along with individual photos, Dominick has also posted a time-lapse video showing the view as the space station flies over the area of Hurricane Milton. This was posted Wednesday October 9, showing the view as seen from space.
Timelapse flying by Hurricane Milton today about 2 hours ago. Storm looks bigger but less symmetric than yesterday.
1/2000 sec, f8, 14mm, ISO 500, 0.5 sec interval, 30fps pic.twitter.com/XUjQEJPOGg
— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) October 9, 2024
In addition to the images posted by Dominick, NASA has also shared more images from the space station showing further details of the hurricane.
Hurricane #Milton is pictured as a Category 5 storm in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula from the space station on Oct. 8, 2024. pic.twitter.com/S7Hpe5GFMp
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 9, 2024
Because of the threat from the hurricane, NASA has scrubbed its planned launch of the Europa Clipper mission, which had been scheduled for October 10. The launch will take place from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which is normally open to the public but has been undergoing hurricane preparations and is now restricted to essential personnel only.
“Tropical storm force winds are expected to reach the spaceport by Wednesday evening, with tornadoes possible ahead of Milton’s center of approach,” NASA wrote in an update. “Hurricane force winds are expected to arrive early Thursday morning. Rain totals of 8-12 inches are expected through Saturday. After the hurricane has passed and winds have dropped sufficiently, center facilities and infrastructure will be assessed before employees are cleared to return to work.”
