Fact Check: Authentic Time-Lapse Footage of Hurricane Milton from Space?

Claim:

A video posted online in early October 2024 authentically showed time-lapse footage of Hurricane Milton from space.

Rating:

True ( About this rating? )

Context:

The video was published by NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick from the Crew Dragon Endeavour, a spacecraft made and operated by SpaceX and currently docked at the International Space Station.

On Oct. 8, 2024, Reddit user @VastCoconut2609 shared a time-lapse video which they said showed the potentially life-threatening Hurricane Milton from space ( archived ).

The post had received more than 60,000 upvotes and 1,800 comments as of this writing.

Timelapse of hurricane Milton from the International Space Station captured few hours ago.
by u/VastCoconut2609 in BeAmazed

Milton had already started impacting Florida at the time of this publication, with further devastation expected overnight.

Evacuation orders had been put in place across the Sunshine State , and the storm came just two weeks after Florida, among other states, was hit by Hurricane Helene .

A reverse image search revealed the footage in the Reddit post was indeed authentic.

It originated from Matthew Dominick , a NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy commander currently stationed at the International Space Station (ISS), who posted it to X on Oct. 8 ( archived ).

His video had garnered more than 9 million views and 84,000 likes as of this writing.

Dominick posted another message about Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, adding that the storm looked " bigger but less symmetric than" the day before ( archived ).

Updates regarding Hurricane Milton can be found on numerous sites online.

Sources:

Evacuation Orders. https://www.floridadisaster.org/evacuation-orders/ . Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

Governor Ron DeSantis Issues Updates on State Preparedness Efforts for Hurricane Milton. https://www.flgov.com/2024/10/08/governor-ron-desantis-issues-updates-on-state-preparedness-efforts-for-hurricane-milton-4/ . Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

'Hurricane Milton: Follow Advice from Local Officials and Evacuate If Told to Do So'. U.S. Department of Commerce, 8 Oct. 2024, https://www.commerce.gov/news/blog/2024/10/hurricane-milton-follow-advice-local-officials-and-evacuate-if-told-do-so .

Matthew Dominick - NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/people/matthew-dominick/ . Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

'X.Com'. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/dominickmatthew/status/1843679036792549688 . Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

'---'. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/dominickmatthew/status/1844025627390992850 . Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GTpK5CgOMU&t=44s . Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.