Jason 3 pre-launch news conference

Here’s another batch of photos from Saturday’s Falcon 9 launch from Florida’s Space Coast with nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies heading for the International Space Station.

Astronauts on the International Space Station and a fleet of Earth-watching satellites caught views of Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere, after the storm exploded in strength to become a monster Category 5 hurricane Friday.

A solid-fueled Vega rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Thursday with five Earth observation satellites for Peru and the Google subsidiary Terra Bella. The four-stage booster fired away from its tropical launch pad right on time at 9:43 p.m. EDT (0143 GMT Friday).