ORLANDO, Fla. – Hurricane Ian made landfall around 3:05 p.m. in southwest Florida, and the International Space Station watched it happen from Earth’s orbit.
The ISS posted video to social media of Ian as it made landfall at Cayo Costa Island, a barrier island near Port Charlotte.
Live now on @NASA TV, the space station flies over #HurricaneIan providing live views of the storm as it makes landfall near Fort Myers, Florida. https://t.co/fnW0iJxV9O
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 28, 2022
The video shows the storm from various angles, all of them giving an incredible birds-eye look at the storm’s monster size.
Hurricane-force winds extend 50 miles from the center, while tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles from the center. For comparison, Florida stretches about 360 miles wide, according to the Florida Department of State.
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Meanwhile, back on Earth, Kennedy Space Center and the Space Force installations in Brevard County were placed under HURCON I status.
That means that surface winds in excess of 58 mph are possible in the area of KSC, Patrick Space Force Base and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station within the next 12 hours. All non-essential facilities are closed and a KSC ride-out team is being sheltered at certain locations.