Categories: Earth ObservationNatural DisastersSpace Station

Video: Huge Hurricane Rina Seen from the Space Station

Hurricane Rina's location and forecasted path as of 7 am CDT on Oct 26, 2011. Credit: NOAA

“It’s a big one!” said International Space Station commander Mike Fossum as the space station flew over Hurricane Rina at 2:39 p.m. EDT on Oct. 25, 2011. External cameras on the ISS captured these views as the station flew 248 miles over the Caribbean Sea east of Belize.

Rina’s maximum sustained winds remained steady at about 110 mph early Wednesday, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, making it a Category 2 storm. Forecasters predict it will strengthen to a major hurricane as it nears the Mexican coast Wednesday night before rolling over the island of Cozumel, then along the coast to Cancun.

See a map of the Hurricane’s projected path below.

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The late season hurricane, which continues to intensify, was located 300 miles east-southeast of Chetumal, Mexico, barely moving west-northwest at a glacial three miles an hour. Hurricane warnings have been issued for the Yucatan from north of Punta Gruesa, Mexico, to Cancun.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/