NASA'S Kennedy Space Center Closes For Tropical Storm Fay

NASA's Kennedy Space Center will be closed Tuesday, Aug. 19, because of the potential threat from Tropical Storm Fay. Current plans call for the center to be closed for 24 hours, starting with workers' first-shift Tuesday morning. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex also is closed Tuesday.

Kennedy managers are scheduled to meet again at 5 p.m. EDT to reevaluate the storm's status and its impact on the center.

Fay made landfall Tuesday morning along Florida's southwest coast. It is forecast to affect Kennedy Tuesday afternoon with heavy rain and possible tropical storm force wind.

While most of Kennedy's almost 15,000 employees will not be at work, the center will have a small group of emergency personnel, known as a "ride-out crew," who will stay at the center to provide real-time assessments of the storm situation. There are about 200 people on the ride-out crew.

All three space shuttles have been secured in their Orbiter Processing Facilities. The shuttles have been powered down in their hangars and their payload bay doors have been closed to protect them from possible damage. Critical Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station flight hardware has been protectively covered.

Kennedy workers should check with the center's hurricane information phone line for the latest status at 321-861-7900 or 1-866-572-4877

Center storm updates also will be available online at the agency's emergency operation center Web site.