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Typhoons Pat and Odessa in the Western Pacific Ocean

The crew of STS-51I spotted two swirling typhoons in the western Pacific as they orbited Earth in Space Shuttle Discovery. Amongst the cyclones they photographed on the mission, Typhoons Pat (left) and Odessa were unusual in that they constituted a Fujiwhara system of connected cyclones. Never before have such paired typhoons been photographed from orbit.

 

During their mission from August 27 to September 3, 1985, the crew of five deployed three communications satellites, as well as retrieved and repaired the Syncom IV-3 (Leasat-3) satellite, which had been deployed during the STS-51D mission earlier that year.

 

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Credit: NASA

Image Number: 51I-35-078

Date: August 30, 1985

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Uploaded on August 27, 2025
Taken on August 30, 1985