NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick has given us dramatic, Dragon’s-eye views of Hurricane Milton churning its method towards landfall.
Dominick posted a timelapse video on X (previously Twitter) in the present day, exhibiting Hurricane Milton by means of the window of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour, which is docked to the Worldwide House Station (ISS).
Endeavour is flying SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission for NASA; in early March, the capsule carried Dominick to the orbiting lab together with fellow NASA astronauts Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, in addition to Alexander Grebenkin of Russia’s area company Roscosmos.
Crew-8 is winding down. It was imagined to return to Earth on Monday (Oct. 7), actually, however Hurricane Milton has delayed the homecoming. The storm is powering its method by means of the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida, roiling up the waters of Endeavour’s deliberate splashdown zone.
In consequence, NASA and SpaceX have pushed Crew-8’s deliberate undocking to Sunday (Oct. 13) on the earliest.
Associated: Hurricane Milton forces NASA, SpaceX to delay Crew-8 astronauts’ return to Earth
Milton is presently a Class 4 hurricane, the second-most highly effective kind. It is anticipated to make landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, close to Tampa and St. Petersburg, late Wednesday (Oct. 9) as a Class 3 storm, in response to The Related Press. Milton will then proceed transferring east throughout Florida, seemingly affecting the state’s Atlantic coast as properly.
The storm has already pressured NASA to face down from the deliberate Thursday (Oct. 10) launch of the $5 billion Europa Clipper mission from Florida’s Kennedy House Middle. A brand new goal date can be introduced after the storm passes.
Timelapse flying by Hurricane Milton about 2 hours in the past. 1/6400 sec publicity, 14mm, ISO 500, 0.5 sec interval, 30fps pic.twitter.com/p5wBlC95mxOctober 8, 2024
Endeavour is not the one SpaceX capsule docked to the ISS in the meanwhile. The Crew Dragon spacecraft Freedom arrived on Sept. 29, flying the corporate’s Crew-9 mission for NASA.
Freedom is seen in Dominick’s footage, partially blocking the wonderful view of Earth from Endeavour’s window.
