This image of Hurricane Frances was taken aboard the International Space Station at an altitude of about 230 miles.

This image of Hurricane Frances was taken at 8 a.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004 by Astronaut Mike Fincke aboard the International Space Station at an altitude of about 230 miles. At the time, Frances was a category 4 hurricane located almost 500 miles east-southeast of West Palm Beach, Fla., with winds of 145 mph. Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Fincke, the NASA ISS Science Officer and Flight Engineer, are in the fifth month of a six-month stay on the orbiting research platform.