A Category 5 hurricane bearing down on Florida starkly stands out in new space station footage.
Earlier today (Wednesday, Oct. 9), the International Space Station flew over Hurricane Milton as the storm made its way toward the west coast of Florida. Milton is expected to make landfall as soon as tonight, and millions of residents across the state have been ordered to evacuate, according to multiple media reports.
"Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida," the National Hurricane Center said in an update. Additionally, NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the nearby United States Space Force base at Cape Canaveral — both on Florida's east coast — are down 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 officials wrote of KSC's status in a blog post.
Related: Dragon's-eye view: Astronaut captures amazing shots of Hurricane Milton from space (photos, video)
"Hurricane force winds are expected to arrive early Thursday morning [Oct. 10]. Rain totals of 8 to 12 inches [20 to 31 centimeters] are expected through Saturday [Oct. 12]. 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."
The KSC visitors center is also closed to visitors at least through Thursday, officials wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
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/373GWmNcA6October 9, 2024
The impending arrival of the hurricane has also delayed the timing of two key space mission milestones previously expected to go forward this week.
Crew-8, the eighth operational ISS mission by SpaceX, is now expected to depart the orbiting complex with four astronauts no earlier than Sunday (Oct. 13) to allow time for the poor weather to depart the Atlantic Ocean area. A new weather briefing on the matter will take place on Friday (Oct. 11), NASA officials wrote in a recent blog post.
Europa Clipper, a launch targeting the Jupiter moon of Europa, has also been delayed from an expected Oct. 10 departure. No new launch date is released, but the mission's window extends through Nov. 6.
