Astronauts capture incredible images of Super Typhoon Maysak
'Commands respect even from space,' Samantha Cristoforetti says
Super Typhoon Maysak — which left at least five people dead after slamming into the Micronesian island of Chuuk — is expected to weaken as it approaches the Philippines, forecasters say. But it looked plenty powerful Tuesday, when astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured some incredible images of the enormous storm.
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took several photos of the typhoon Tuesday, when Maysak's maximum sustained winds were 160 mph.
Commands respect even from #space: we just flew over typhoon #Maysak. pic.twitter.com/w86GnxmaO2
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) March 31, 2015
"Commands respect even from space," Cristoforetti wrote on Twitter.
A closer look... #Maysak pic.twitter.com/yyB1509oTr
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) March 31, 2015
Terry Virts, an American astronaut aboard the International Space Station, took several other shots of the typhoon's enormous eye.
Looking down into the eye - by far the widest one I’ve seen. It seemed like a black hole from a Sci-Fi movie #Maysak pic.twitter.com/hmdBStaY6r
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 1, 2015
"It seemed like a black hole from a Sci-Fi movie," Virts tweeted.
More views of the eye- this was about 12 hours ago at sunrise, local time. Unbelievable. #Maysak pic.twitter.com/9Z6obnSVjh
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 1, 2015
The eye of #Maysak typhoon really stands out early in the morning with the shadow being cast deep into the vortex pic.twitter.com/SodkijMt7O
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 1, 2015
The typhoon, the third to impact the western Pacific this year, lashed the tiny island of Yap on Wednesday before weakening, Philippine weather officials said. Maysak, now carrying maximum winds of 118 mph, is expected to make landfall in the Philippines on Saturday.
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