Hurricane Ian landed on Florida's Gulf Coast as a hazardous Category 4 storm last Wednesday as NASA and other astronauts observed the situation in real-time from the International Space Station.
NASA cameras and astronauts on the ISS captured live video of Hurricane Ian as it approached the Florida coast on Sept. 28 and struck ashore close to Cayo Costa.
CARIBBEAN SEA - SEPTEMBER 26: In this NASA handout image taken from the International Space Station, Hurricane Ian moves through the Caribbean Sea on September 26, 2022 just south of Cuba. The storm is expected to bring a potentially life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds.
NASA Astronaut in International Space Station Captures Hurricane Ian Heading to Florida
The International Space Station (ISS) astronauts have been monitoring Hurricane Ian. Space.com said the cosmonauts got stunning images of the storm on Monday, Sept. 26, as it moved south of Cuba into Florida.
NASA published these pictures on Twitter on Wednesday, Sept. 28,
#HurricaneIan was pictured from the space station on Sept. 26, 2022, as the storm was just south of Cuba gaining strength and heading toward Florida. pic.twitter.com/LBDLTP7J6N
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 27, 2022
ALSO READ: NASA Scrubs Artemis 1 Space Launch System Rocket Launch Yet Again Due to Hurricane Ian
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Hurricane Ian was headed toward the north-northeast at a speed of around 9 miles per hour (15 kilometers per hour) and that it will shift to the northeast on Thursday.
According to an NHC update, Ian's core would approach the land fast, pass across central Florida Wednesday night and Thursday early, and then reappear over the western Atlantic by late Thursday.
Ian is anticipated to proceed northward on Friday and make landfall late on Friday near the coasts of northeastern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Hurricane Ian Affects Crew-5, Artemis 1 Launch Dates
State officials in Florida instructed inhabitants in the storm's path to evacuate in the days leading up to Hurricane Ian's impact. Additionally, NASA decided to relocate the enormous Space Launch System rocket, which stands 322-feet tall (98 meters), into the shelter of its hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
NASA's plans to use the first Space Launch System rocket to launch the Artemis 1 mission to the moon have been postponed once more due to the storm.
NASA and SpaceX also delayed the launch of a brand-new crew to the International Space Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
Two American astronauts, one from Japan and one from Russia, and the mission will launch from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center no earlier than Oct. 4.
According to NASA, mission teams will monitor Ian's impacts on Florida's Space Coast and Kennedy Space Center. If necessary, they may move the launch date yet another time.
More details on the anticipated timeframe, including crew arrival from the organization's Johnson Space Center to Kennedy, will be made public in the following days.
Based on current scheduling, the crew is expected to arrive no sooner than Friday, Sept. 30. The safety of the crew, ground staff, and equipment is currently of the utmost importance to NASA and SpaceX.
Teams from NASA and SpaceX will examine any potential affects on the center as the storm intensifies and decide whether to adjust the mission timetable depending on their findings.
A tiny "ride-out" team is on duty at the Kennedy Space Center to keep an eye on the equipment and systems of NASA's spacecraft.
To safeguard Cape Canaveral Space Force Station from Hurricane Ian, which is anticipated to hit the two spaceports by Thursday, the US Space Force also took action there.
RELATED ARTICLE: Hurricane Ian Postpones Launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 Mission; New Target Date on Oct. 4
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