Interesting Photo of the Day: Hurricane Ivan from the ISS

Interesting Photos

Here’s a perspective of a natural disaster you don’t see every day. One quick glance at this image and it may resemble skyscrapers pointing upward toward a hole in the sky, similar to a science fiction apocalyptic movie. No, those are solar array panels on the International Space Station and this was taken from an altitude of 230 miles above the hurricane:

“Hurricane Ivan from the ISS” by Astronaut Edward Fincke (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size.)

NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer Edward M. Fincke was aboard the ISS on September 11, 2004, when he captured this stunning image of Hurricane Ivan from above. The center of the hurricane’s eye can clearly be seen framed between the solar array panels. Ivan was reported to have 160 mile per hour winds and was moving its way through the western Caribbean Sea at the time. This hurricane still stands as one of the most powerful in recorded history, and Fincke captured it from the best aerial view possible.