As Seen from ISS: Hurricane Patricia – “Strongest Hurricane on Record” Approaching Mexico

Space Station Commander Scott Kelly posted this photo on Twitter at 3:37 pm ET today. Hurricane Patricia has become one of the strongest storms ever measured on Earth, comparable to Super Typhoon Haiyan, also photographed from ISS on November 9, 2013. With maximum sustained winds of 190 mph (down from 200 mph earlier in the day), it is expected to make landfall on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the next few hours as a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm.

From the National Hurricane Center, Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, Category 5 is strongest:

Sustained Winds: 157 mph or higher
Expected Impact: Catastrophic damage will occur: A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

Click on image below to go to Twitter, and click on the image again at Twitter to zoom in.

 

 


The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC, working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.

The Smithsonian National Air and Space MuseumCenter for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and Subaru of America, Inc., are U.S. National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Magellan Aerospace is a Canadian National Partner on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.

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The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.