NASA transfers space station control to Russia Agency's Houston center evacuated as Hurricane Rita approaches
MSNBC staff and news service reports Updated: 4:00 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2005 NASA ordered the evacuation of its Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday and turned over control of the international space station to its Russian partners as Hurricane Rita barreled across the Gulf of Mexico. Space agency officials said the center would be closed on Thursday and Friday, with "ride-out teams" staying behind to keep watch on critical systems. Rita is expected to make landfall near Houston by Saturday. Many of the space center's 15,000 government and contractor workers had already left the space center by the time the evacuation order was given, heeding calls from Texas officials to leave the area, NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said. The Johnson Space Center, home to the Mission Control Center and the headquarters of NASA's human spaceflight program, is situated less than a quarter-mile (400 meters) from Clear Lake, which is part of Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Workers covered computers and other electronic devices with plastic sheets and picked up loose objects from around the center. A small group of workers will remain inside Mission Control during the storm, Hartsfield said. Operations of the space station were passed to the Russian Mission Control complex outside Moscow. NASA keeps a small team of flight controllers and support personnel in Russia at all times. A backup team of space-station experts will be secluded at a U.S. site to help out in case any emergencies arise on the station, Hartsfield said. Katrina's effect NASA already has been affected by hurricane damage this year. The Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans and the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., have been shut since Hurricane Katrina hit. Some agency officials have voiced concern that logistical snags created by Katrina's devastation could delay the next shuttle launch until next fall. The New Orleans center, which manufactures the space shuttle fuel tanks, is key to NASA's efforts to resume space shuttle flights, which remain on hold after lingering problems with falling foam marred the agency's first shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia disaster. Columbia broke apart during landing due to wing damage caused by a piece of foam insulation that broke off from the external tank during launch. Seven astronauts died. Large pieces of foam insulation also fell off during the launch of the shuttle Discovery on July 26, prompting the agency to ground the fleet again for further repairs. This report includes information from Reuters and MSNBC.com. C 2005 MSNBC Interactive C 2005 MSNBC.com URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9426715/ _____ FAIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. 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