Astronaut Spies Menacing Tropical Storm Bill from Space

Tropical Storm Bill lurks menacingly near the coast of Texas in a photo taken from space yesterday (June 15).

Astronaut Spies Menacing Tropical Storm Bill from Space

Tropical Storm Bill lurks menacingly near the coast of Texas in a photo taken from space yesterday (June 15).

The image was captured from the International Space Station, and shows the storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of the Lone Star State. The storm made landfall earlier today, on southern Matagorda Island, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (97 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly took the new photo. Kelly, along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, is participating in the first yearlong mission at the International Space Station to study the long-term effects of microgravity on the human body. [Earth from Above: 101 Stunning Images from Orbit]