Hurricane Ian approaching Florida as powerful Category 3 storm, satellite images show

Hurricane Ian battered Cuba and turned toward the west coast of Florida on Tuesday (Sept. 27) as satellites track the harrowing storm from space. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, Ian was churning across the Gulf of Mexico as Category 3 hurricane and being tracked by the GOES-16/GOES-East weather satellite operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The satellite captured striking video and images of Hurricane Ian after it crossed western Cuba. 

"Re-strengthening is expected later today through Wednesday [Sept. 28]," NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) officials wrote in an afternoon update. "Ian is forecast to approach the west coast of Florida as an extremely dangerous major hurricane."

Video: See Hurricane Ian churn from International Space Station

NOAA hurricane forecasters wrote that Hurricane Ian was expected to cross the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and pass west of the Florida Keys Tuesday night. It should reach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday or Wednesday night, NHC officials said. The storm is forecast to make U.S. landfall just south of Sarasota, Florida, Wednesday night, according to the New York Times. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, Hurricane Ian was moving northward at about 10 mph (17 kph), with maximum sustained winds reaching speeds of nearly 120 mph (195 kph), NHC officials said. 

Heavy rainfall was already reported across parts of Florida, with state officials issuing evacuation orders for some coastal regions, according to the New York Times. 

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral along Florida's eastern coast, mission managers ordered the agency's Artemis 1 moon rocket rolled back into its Vehicle Assembly Building so that it could shelter from the approaching storm inside the cavernous 52-story hangar. 

The Artemis 1 moon rocket, NASA's first Space Launch System booster, stands 322 feet tall (98 meters) and was waiting its first uncrewed test flight after weeks of delays and two previous launch attempts.

"At approximately 9:15 a.m. EDT, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission were secured inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center after a four-mile journey from Launch Pad 39B that began at 11:21 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26 ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Ian," NASA wrote in an update. "After the storm has passed, teams will conduct inspections to determine impacts at the center and establish a forward plan for the next launch attempt, including replacing the core stage flight termination system batteries and retesting the system to ensure it can terminate the flight if necessary for public safety in the event of an emergency during launch."

NASA is also tracking Hurricane Ian from the International Space Station. On Wednesday, the space agency will provide live views of the storm at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) as seen from the orbiting laboratory.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.