The three NASA facilities that were in the path of Hurricane Rita are making damage assessments and cleaning up today. 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. 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.
Johnson employees are being asked to check a recorded message at: 281/483-3351 or 877/283-1947 for information on when the center will reopen. They also are urged to check in by calling: 877/470-5240.
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.
NASA has a public Web site for important information for NASA employees and contractors impacted by Rita and Katrina at: http://www.nasa.gov/eoc
NASA will provide new information and images as they become available. For updates, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/rita
For recorded updates about NASA operations and the conditions of various facilities, call: 888/362-4323
Members of the public who have general questions about NASA’s hurricane recovery efforts can call: 866/779-7462
NASA also can take email inquiries from the public about general storm- related activities. Use “Rita” in the subject line, and send to: public-inquiries@hq.nasa.gov
