Hurricane Irma seen from the International Space Station in new video
A monster storm brewing in the Atlantic Ocean looks even more fearsome from space.
Cameras on the International Space Station caught sight of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 beast of a storm, from about 240 miles up on Tuesday.
A new video shows the storm swirling beneath the station from a few different angles during one of the space laboratory's recent orbits.
Irma is now one of the strongest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic Ocean, with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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The hurricane is heading for a potentially disastrous encounter with the northern Lesser Antilles on Tuesday, which could devastate vacation spots like Antigua, Anguilla, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. John's, and St. Kitts and Nevis, among others.
While Irma's track is still uncertain later in the week, the hurricane is on a path that could bring it toward Florida this weekend, and the state is preparing for that possibility.
Florida governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for every county in the state in preparation for what could be the worst hurricane to make landfall in Florida in more than 10 years.
Space-based tools are are used by scientists to predict the paths and intensities of storms on Earth.
By looking down on hurricanes and tropical storms from above, researchers are able to gather data about just what kind of conditions a storm is facing and if it may weaken or intensify.
The Space Station's cameras also caught sight of Hurricane Harvey as it made its way through the Gulf of Mexico to impact Texas last week.
Keep an eye out@ for other views of Irma from astronauts onboard the station as this storm, doesn't show signs of slowing anytime soon.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
