NASA Facilities Weather Hurricane Rita
The three NASA facilities that were in the path of Hurricane Rita are now making damage assessments and cleaning up. NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi sustained minor or no storm damage.
Johnson reopens to all employees Tuesday. Mission Control Center in Houston reestablished communications with the international space station today, as well.
Full handover of operational control and support duties for the space station from flight controllers in Russian mission control takes place early Tuesday morning. Control of the station was transferred to Russian mission control Wednesday when Johnson was evacuated and before Rita made landfall.
The Michoud Assembly Facility reopened today for limited work. Emergency operations personnel spent Sunday picking up debris and inspecting for damage. The facility, which makes space shuttle external fuel tanks, evacuated about 100 employees last Thursday ahead of Rita. About 40 "ride-out" personnel stayed a Michoud during the storm.
About 40 miles east of Michoud, NASA's Stennis Space Center, where space shuttle main engines are tested, sustained no storm damage.