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NASA centers prepare for Hurricane Ivan NASA NEWS RELEASE Posted: September 14, 2004 Weather forecasts indicate some NASA centers and facilities could feel Ivan's terrible wrath. Preparations are under way to secure important space flight hardware. NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC), Miss., and the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are getting ready to ride out the storm. Other NASA installations, from Johnson Space Center, Houston, to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., are keeping a wary eye on Ivan's track. "We really saw our readiness for Hurricanes Charley and Frances pay off," said William Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for space operations. "KSC was in the path of those two strong storms, and while some of our buildings were damaged, we made sure our workforce was safe and had no injuries. We were also able to protect our three Space Shuttles, our International Space Station components, and other key hardware. Ivan looks like it may be an even more powerful storm, so it's important that we do everything we can to prepare our people and our facilities," he said. At SSC, where Space Shuttle engines are tested before flight, workers were sent home this afternoon to prepare for the storm with their families. A team of essential personnel plans to ride out the storm. Two flight-qualified Space Shuttle Main Engines at were secured; one was put back into its container, and the other was wrapped in plastic. Two developmental engines were enclosed on their test stands and protected. A ride-out team will remain in place through the storm at Michoud, across the Mississippi-Louisiana border from SSC. Lockheed Martin and NASA workers were dismissed this morning to make preparations at home. The large Space Shuttle external fuel tanks manufactured and assembled at Michoud, a NASA facility operated by Lockheed-Martin, have been secured. Equipment was moved indoors, facilities sandbagged, and important materials, such as insulating foam and adhesive, loaded onto trucks for transportation out of the area, if necessary. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located well inland in Huntsville, Ala., is also taking precautions and making preparations for possible tornados or other effects from Ivan. |
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Cameras on the International Space Station see Hurricane Ivan as the orbiting complex flies over the powerful storm. (3min 05sec file)
On Friday, Sept. 10, officials hold a news conference from Utah to update reporters on the recovery operations to salvage the Genesis sample return mission. (44min 47sec file)
The Genesis sample return capsule tumbles through the sky and impacts the desert floor in Utah after its speed-slowing chute and parafoil failed to deploy for a mid-air recovery by a helicopter. (2min 29sec file)
This slow-motion video shows the Genesis capsule slamming into the ground. (1min 06sec file)
Aerial views show the Genesis capsule half buried in the Utah desert floor after its landing system suffered a failure. (1min 53sec file)