The ominous eye of Hurricane Milton is visible in stunning detail from outer space in a timeplapse video released Tuesday by NASA.
From 275 miles above Earth, the powerful storm can be seen churning and swirling in the Gulf of Mexico as it makes its fateful approach toward Florida for what is poised to be a catastrophic landfall.
For millions of Floridians still recovering from Helene, the storm’s impending arrival comes with orders to flee or hunker down . For NASA, Milton’s approach has forced the space agency to stand down on some of its missions.
Earlier this week, NASA and SpaceX made the call to delay the launch of the highly anticipated Europa Clipper mission , which was set for a Thursday takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission will eventually send a massive uncrewed orbiter to Jupiter’s moon to search for signs of life .
Meanwhile, a SpaceX mission known as Crew-8 had been set to return Monday to Earth before NASA postponed the four astronauts’ homecoming due to Milton. The Crew-8 members, who have been at the International Space Station since March , met their Crew-9 replacements late in September when they arrived on a Dragon capsule that will also bear home the Boeing Starliner astronauts next year.