Indexbit-What does Hurricane Milton look like from space? NASA shares video of storm near Florida

The Indexbitominous eye of Hurricane Milton is visible in stunning detail from outer space in a timeplapse video released Tuesday by NASA.

From 275 miles above Earth, the powerful storm can be seen churning and swirling in the Gulf of Mexico as it makes its fateful approach toward Florida for what is poised to be a catastrophic landfall.

For millions of Floridians still recovering from Helene, the storm's impending arrival comes with orders to flee or hunker down. For NASA, Milton's approach has forced the space agency to stand down on some of its missions.

Earlier this week, NASA and SpaceX made the call to delay the launch of the highly anticipated Europa Clipper mission, which was set for a Thursday takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission will eventually send a massive uncrewed orbiter to Jupiter's moon to search for signs of life.

Meanwhile, a SpaceX mission known as Crew-8 had been set to return Monday to Earth before NASA postponed the four astronauts' homecoming due to Milton. The Crew-8 members, who have been at the International Space Station since March, met their Crew-9 replacements late in September when they arrived on a Dragon capsule that will also bear home the Boeing Starliner astronauts next year.

One of the Crew-8 members, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, even captured a striking video of his own of Milton from the mission's Endeavor Dragon capsule still docked at the space station.

NASA shares video of storm from International Space Station

External cameras on the International Space Station first captured a glimpse of the gathering tempest Monday morning while orbiting above Florida. At the time, the Category 5 storm was packing winds of 175 miles an hour as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico, NASA said.

The agency released new views of Milton, now a Category 4 storm, Tuesday morning as the space station made another pass overhead.

Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall Wednesday night

The center of Milton, a Category 4 storm driving sustained winds of 145 mph as of Wednesday afternoon, was forecast to move across the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida, officials continue to sound the alarm on the dire threat the powerful storm poses to those who remain in its path.

The storm, presents an "extremely life-threatening situation" to those on the state's western coast, the hurricane center has repeatedly warned.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Milton will likely make landfall as a Category 3 storm and warned Tuesday that "time is running out" for Floridians to evacuate before the region is devastated by damaging winds and torrential rainfall.

In preparation for landfall, Universal Studios Orlando and Walt Disney World both announced closures, while Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays play home games has been transformed into a base camp for emergency responders.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]