Early Monday, Musk's SpaceX launched its 16th rocket of the year. The first stage fell away and landed flawlessly on a drone ship in the Atlantic, reports ArsTechnica's Eric Berger, while the rocket went on to deploy a satellite in orbit (see above).
The big questions: Space is rapidly becoming internationally commercialized by governments and companies, particularly in the U.K., India, China, Russia, Israel and the U.S. But, how will they protect the trillions of dollars in assets going up? What happens if one country or company decides that another's actions or its stuff are a threat, and attacks?
As of 5 p.m. ET, Hurricane Florence had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. The official intensity forecast has been raised — now calling for it to peak as a Category 5 storm before weakening slightly as it makes its approach to the coast.
The big picture: Florence poses extraordinary risks for the East Coast, from storm surge flooding at the coasts, to high winds inland and potentially deadly inland flooding. As of 5 pm ET, the National Hurricane Center said the storm's hurricane force wind field had doubled in size in the past 12 hours.
Hurricane Florence, currently a Category 4 storm, is going through an astonishingly rapid intensification process, and could hit anywhere from the Carolinas to the Mid-Atlantic by Thursday or Friday.
Driving the news: As of 5 pm ET, Hurricane Florence had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. The official intensity forecast has been raised — now calling for it to peak as a Category 5 storm before weakening slightly as it makes its approach to the coast. All eight of South Carolina's coastal counties will face a mandatory evacuation beginning at noon Tuesday, per The State.
Hurricane Florence is intensifying at an astonishing pace as it takes aim at the East Coast of the United States — and astronaut Ricky Arnold got an incredible view.
The details: Arnold, currently on board the International Space Station, snapped pictures of Florence this morning, as Tropical Storms Isaac and Helene also soon came into his view.
Hurricane Florence has the potential to be a devastating storm for tens of millions along the East Coast later this week, when it is forecast to come close to or cross over the coastline of the Carolinas or mid-Atlantic region. It can possibly come to a complete stall as a major hurricane of Category 3 intensity or greater, which would be a potential nightmare scenario if it plays out.
The big picture: Computer model projections are unanimous in showing the storm will be unusually intense and slow-moving — two attributes that indicate its destructive potential. While Florence was a Category 1 storm Sunday afternoon, it's forecast to take advantage of warm sea surface temperatures, the absence of wind shear and other inhibiting factors to rapidly intensify to a Category 4 or possibly even Category 5 hurricane as it moves toward the East Coast.
The big picture: As Axios science editor Andrew Freedman reported yesterday, "Depending on the storm's intensity and exact path, both of which are considerably uncertain, the storm could pose a devastating threat to areas that have not seen a major hurricane make landfall in decades."
