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Find out more about Patricia: An award-winning journalist, author, and former NASA spokesman, Patricia Phillips has written about space for international markets since the 1970's. She's a skilled platform speaker, anthologized poet, and popular Native American story teller. Her love for space began when she watched Sputnik sail overhead and thought the whole idea was as magical as anything she could ever imagine. She still does. |
The judgment of NASA managers, who Thursday moved Mission Control to a hotel room in Austin, TX and a backup facility in Alabama was proven as Hurricane Ike left Johnson Space Center, like more than three million other customers, without power. The AIRS instruments package aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Ike (right) as the storm moved in on Houston.
At JSC, backup generators are in place to maintain any critical functions in Mission Control computers and the sprawling 1,600-acre complex. Nearby, the residential area of Clear Lake, where many astronauts and NASA workers live, faced a storm surge of about 20 feet, according to National Weather service data.
Although NASA press employee & media update lines are still carrying Friday's message, long-time space reporter & Houston resident Mark Carreau of the Houston Chronicle Twittered status updates on JSC. He managed to get through to a NASA spokesman who said that high winds downed some tree limbs. Some roofs may have leaked as Ike roared through.
A 65-member rideout crew is still onsite at JSC to monitor the situation. Officials have said that the space center may re-open for business as early as Monday, if post-storm conditions allow.
Residents in the Houston area face not only power problems, but water dangers as well. Houston officials this morning issued a boil order for any water usage.
Ike, now a Category I, was the latest in a string of tropical storms that have closed four NASA facilities in about two weeks. Because of Ike and the evacuation of Mission Control, American and Russian flight managers agreed to delay the docking of a Russian Progress supply vessel at the International Space Station.
Tropical Storm Fay, which lashed Kennedy Space Center and forced its closure, and Hurricane Gustav earlier led to a two-day slippage in both upcoming space shuttle missions.
Atlantis and the seven crew members of the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission will launch at approximately 12:33 a.m. EDT. Friday, Oct. 10. Next up: a supply and astronaut swap-out run to the International Space Station (ISS) by Endeavour and its seven-member crew. The STS-126 mission will lift off about 8:43 p.m. Nov. 12 and land at about 2:45 p.m., Nov. 27. Because the launch window for the ISS mission is very tight, NASA schedulers now have to closely monitor every single day lost during flight preparations.
Whether or not Hurricane Ike will impact any upcoming space missions or activities isn't yet known. Vital astronaut training is conducted at Johnson Space Center in a variety of simulators and specially-designed pools that mimic working in the weightless conditions of space.
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