After the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina (including damage to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans) and with the extremely powerful Hurricane Rita approaching, NASA is taking no chances. As of 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday September 21, 2005, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston closed. A small, emergency rideout crew will remain on site.
The center will not reopen until the storm threat has passed. NASA has established two contact numbers for employees who wish to monitor the status of the center. Those phone lines will be updated as information becomes available:
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(281) 483-3351 or
(877) 283-1947
As of the time of the closure of NASA's Johnson Space Center, primary flight control of the International Space Station will transition to the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow. As usual, a group of NASA flight controllers is positioned at the Russian control center to assist with operations. Also, an advisory group of flight controllers will provide operations assistance from a remote location. All station systems are operating normally, and the crew has been informed of the plans for Johnson Space Center's closure.
Employees have been working for the past couple of days to protect important documents and equipment at the center. NASA aircraft are being moved to El Paso, Texas, as part of the center's hurricane preparations.
Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall on the Gulf coast of Texas by Saturday. The Johnson Space Center is less than a quarter-mile from Clear Lake, part of Galveston Bay.
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This article was created with the assistance of NASA press releases.