Across NASA agency employees are doing their part to help communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. Emergency operations are focused on locating and providing assistance to NASA employees and their families, then securing and repairing NASA facilities.
Two NASA installations, Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, near New Orleans, were significantly impacted by the storm. A number of NASA civil servant and contractor employees are believed to have lost their homes, and many have evacuated the Gulf Coast.
All NASA centers are participating in efforts to find housing and work space for dislocated employees and their families. NASA workers are also collecting supplies and contributing to the NASA Family Assistance Fund. Each center is also offering its special capabilities and expertise to the recovery effort.
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., is the focal point for support to Stennis and Michoud. Marshall is providing truckloads of supplies and a number of key personnel to Stennis and Michoud. Their goal is to establish emergency communications and to assist with damage assessments. Trucks to Stennis have also carried humanitarian supplies, including groceries, diapers and medicine, for people sheltered there. Workers from Marshall are rotating through Stennis and Michoud, providing relief for employees.
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is sending members of its Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, including water rescue and communications specialists, to New Orleans and to Marshall. More personnel are ready to go to the disaster zone, if needed. Ames is also providing a portable water filtration system for Michoud.
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., is sending medical and mental health professionals to Stennis to help care for evacuees.
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, is arranging for thousands of gallons of fuel to be sent to Stennis to help power generators and other equipment.
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., and Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., are among the NASA science centers supporting data-gathering efforts using agency science instruments and Earth-orbiting satellites. The data are providing detailed insight into the environmental impact caused by Katrina. At JPL, an urban search-and-rescue team is preparing to deploy to the Gulf Coast, if needed.
At Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, employees are donating food and money, as well as volunteering time to organize relief efforts. JSC Aircraft Operations is airlifting personnel and supplies to Stennis, supporting the Veterans Administration and other agencies in evacuating medical patients from storm-ravaged areas.
Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is sending much-needed emergency equipment, food, and medical supplies to assist with recovery efforts. The center is providing a security detail to Michoud; 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel and three large generators to Stennis.
In addition to collecting and sending humanitarian supplies to Stennis, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., is standing by to contribute staffing, equipment and expertise as the affected NASA centers assess their needs.
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