Hurricane Milton Prevents NASA Astronauts From Returning to Earth
The powerful Hurricane Milton has forced NASA astronauts to stay on board the International Space Station, publication Space writes.
The crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft was supposed to return to Earth this week, but their arrival will not take place until 13 October.
‘NASA and SpaceX plan to undock Crew 8 from the International Space Station no earlier than 3:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday, 13 October, due to weather conditions and the potential impact of Hurricane Milton on the Florida peninsula,’ the space agency said on 7 October.
NASA also said that SpaceX Crew-8 mission managers continue to monitor weather conditions, and the next briefing on the return is scheduled for 11 October.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, who is waiting to return to Earth, took a picture of Hurricane Milton from the window of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour.
The space agency subsequently released a slow-motion video from the International Space Station showing the eye of Hurricane Milton.
As The Gaze previously reported, on Wednesday evening, Hurricane Milton reached the coast of Florida, USA, at a speed of 160 km/h, leaving more than 1 million homes without power.
Hurricane Milton is a tropical cyclone from the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 180 mph (about 290 km/h) that is currently raging in the US state of Florida.
It was initially classified as a Category 3 megastorm, then strengthened to Category 5, but eventually weakened to Category 4.