posted September 23, 2005 07:30 AM
Mission Control shuts for Rita; Russians take ISS reins
By MARK CARREAU
Copyright 2005 Houston ChronicleNASA prepared to close Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston today as Hurricane Rita churned toward the Texas Gulf Coast, leaving oversight of the international space station's two-man crew to a Russian control team outside Moscow.
The space center scheduled a 1 p.m. closure to all but a small small security team hunkered in the control center.
"All the systems on the space station are operating fine," said NASA's James Hartsfield, a space center spokesman. "This is a fairly simple emergency plan."
The station has been home to American John Phillips and Russian Sergei Krikalev since April. The two men are due back on Earth in October.
Ground supervison of the station has been shared by the U.S. and Russian control centers since orbital assembly began in 1998. A small rotating team of American experts is always in residence at the Russian control facility, which is active around the clock.
Hartsfield said a half-dozen more controllers are on standby outside the storm threat area and could travel to Russia if the control center in Houston faces an extended shutdown because of the storm.
Johnson will be closed through at least Friday, the space agency said.
Also Wednesday, the space agency began flying its three dozen T-38 jet trainers and other aircraft to inland bases where they would be out of the storm's path.
About 15,000 personnel work at Johnson, and many of them live in Galveston County and parts of Clear Lake that could face high winds and water. As they left, workers backed up computer files and placed protective plastic over vulnerable electronic equipment.
"We are taking the threat of this storm very seriously," said Mike McCulley, the chief executive officer for United Space Alliance, the prime shuttle contractor. "Our primary concerns are doing whatever we can to protect the facilities and flight equipment and hardware in our care, and, most importantly, ensuring that our employees have enough time to do whatever they need to do to protect their families."
NASA installations critical to human space flight in three states have been battered by major hurricanes this year and last.
Hurricane Katrina's fury damaged the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the facility where the shuttle's external fuel tank is assembled, as well as the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., a rocket engine test facility.
Officials at both sites are still attempting to overcome the wind and water damage from the Aug. 29 storm.
The Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle's launch and primary landing site, was damaged by three major storms last year. The Florida installation recovered in time to launch the Discovery in late July on the first mission since the 2003 Columbia accident.
In Houston, NASA established hotlines for workers to monitor Johnson activities at 281-483-3351 and 877-283-1947. United Space Alliance will provide updates for its workers at 800-713-0875 and at www.unitedspacealliance.com.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/chronicle/3363608
Lindaland
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posted September 23, 2005 07:30 AM
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