Stennis Damaged, Michoud Isolated By Floodwaters

NASA teams are working to determine how best to assist personnel from the agency's two facilities that suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina. Space Shuttle Program Manager Bill Parsons has been named the senior NASA official in charge of the hurricane recovery effort.

Parsons is a Mississippi native and a former Stennis center director. NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are closed, while a complete assessment of necessary assistance and facility damage is underway. Employees of the two facilities have excused absences through the recovery period.

Stennis Space Center (SSC)

• No NASA employee or contractor injuries have been reported
• FEMA command center is at SSC. FEMA is bringing in food and water for the people sheltered on-site; approximately 1,000 people including NASA employees, contractors and others are at the center and more expected
• Many homes of SSC employees have been damaged or destroyed.
• There is no commercial electricity at SSC and the surrounding area. Generators are providing limited power to the center

Michoud

• The only way to access the facility is by helicopter since the surrounding roadways are flooded; it appears space flight hardware was not damaged.
• The facility has no electrical power and communication is limited.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/hurricane