The space agency closed the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral when Wilma hit the southwestern tip of Florida (Monday, 24/10 15:00 GMT, 17:00 Israel time)
Avi Blizovsky
NASA's spaceport in Florida was completely emptied on Monday, with only emergency crews left there whose job it is to examine if any damage has been caused to the space shuttles and unmanned spacecraft awaiting launch (especially the one intended for launch to Pluto), from Hurricane Wilma raging outside.
The space agency closed the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral when Wilma hit the southwestern tip of Florida (Monday, 24/10 15:00 GMT, 17:00 Israel time). The winds brought by the storm Wilma reached a speed of 165 km/h in the center of the storm, but in the Cape Canaveral area they will only reach 91 km/h.)
13 NASA personnel and contractor workers work at the Kennedy Space Center. They were asked to stay in their homes and protect themselves from the strong winds and heavy rain,
A tornado, derived from the major hurricane, touched down near the Kennedy Space Center but caused no damage to the space center. "Fortunately the tornado did not come close to our facilities," said center spokesman George Diller.
As mentioned, a small team remained to watch over the three shuttles - Discovery Atlantis and Endeavor that remained in their hangars with the trunk doors closed to protect against leaks of water that might penetrate into the hangars.
"Luckily, there are no leaks and the hangar doors are locked," said Diller, who also added that the spacecraft to Pluto is safely inside the container where it is supposed to be attached to the launch vehicle.
As you may remember, in September, NASA evacuated the Johnson Space Center in Houston, including the control center where it was due to Hurricane Rita. The Michaud External Fuel Tanker Facility in New Orleans and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi were also closed in the same storm. Both of these centers were damaged in August by Hurricane Katrina, which severely damaged New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. NASA expects the Kennedy Space Center to reopen Thursday after Hurricane Wilma passes.
