Image courtesy of NASA

Space Station View of Typhoon Noul
| published May 8, 2015 |

By Thursday Review staff

NASA astronaut Terry Virts, currently aboard the International Space Station, took this amazing photograph on Friday of Typhoon Noul as it swirls in the Pacific Ocean and bears down on the northern Philippines. Currently, Noul is east of Luzon, and is expected to begin to turn north on its advance through the Pacific. Noul may also threaten Taiwan before moving north-northeast toward the southern islands of Japan next week. In the Philippines, some evacuations have already taken place in northeastern cities and towns, especially along the east coast of Luzon, with more evacuations planned over the next hours.

Aboard the International Space Station, crew members have been very busy over the last week with scientific experiments and technical projects, along with repairs and maintenance work. European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti concentrated on a series of experiment work on skin (the Skin-B Study) which analyzes skin aging in the context of zero gravity and space. One of the key elements in any long-duration voyage to Mars will be the aging and breakdown of skin tissues, a process which—for reasons not fully understood by science—greatly accelerates in zero gravity.

Also this week astronauts Terry Virts and Scott Kelly worked on making repairs and adjustments to one of the space station’s carbon dioxide removal systems, a critically important piece of equipment when humans are in space.

Related Thursday Review articles:

Rings of Saturn; Thursday Review staff; Thursday Review; March 17, 2015.

The View From Above; Thursday Review staff; Thursday Review; March 3, 2015.