Space Shuttles Survive Jeanne; Assembly Building Loses More Panels

http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/hurricane/stories/092604shuttles.htm

"Space shuttles survive Jeanne; assembly building loses more panels"
_FLORIDA TODAY_ - Sept. 26, 2004

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.- NASA's three space shuttles are just fine, but the
already damaged Vehicle Assembly Building lost more of wall panels to
Hurricane Jeanne overnight and this morning.

The damage assessment team at the space center has not been able to
venture far from the buildings where a "ride out crew" took cover during
the worst of the storm overnight.

Spokesman George Diller says, however, that quick peeks by people
stationed at various locations indicate that the VAB lost more of the
panels like the ones torn off during Hurricane Frances three weeks ago.

"At one point we were losing one every 2 or 3 minutes, but that's abated
we think," he said.

Other than that, KSC so far has been able to identify mostly "routine"
hurricane damage such as water getting inside some buildings.

Shuttles Endeavour, Discovery and Atlantis and their Orbiter Processing
Facility hangars all came through fine, although the wind continues to
whip and some dangerous storm bands are still hitting Cape Canaveral and
Titusville this morning.

All the International Space Station components stored inside a
processing building at KSC survived in good shape, Diller said.

"We think we can get a chance to get outside at 2 or 3 p.m.," Diller
said.

At that point, NASA officials will get a much better assessment of how
bad the situation is at the VAB and elsewhere. And, of course, the team
could find more damage.

Diller said it was too early to tell whether the additional panels
coming off the Vehicle Assembly Building have made worse the situation
in that facility - where the orbiters are connected to the external fuel
tanks and solid rocket boosters before launch.

"It's too soon to say," Diller said.

Weather devices at Kennedy Space Center measured peak gusts of 79 mph
during the storm, and officials there felt like the storm's sudden
westward turn - taking it slightly south of the projected path - may
have cut the maximum winds at the space center by at least 30 miles per
hour.

[end of article]

--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com

Gawd, who'd live in Florida...

Brian

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"Scott M. Kozel" wrote in message
...
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/hurricane/stories/092604shuttles.htm

"Space shuttles survive Jeanne; assembly building loses more panels"
_FLORIDA TODAY_ - Sept. 26, 2004

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.- NASA's three space shuttles are just fine, but the
already damaged Vehicle Assembly Building lost more of wall panels to
Hurricane Jeanne overnight and this morning.

The damage assessment team at the space center has not been able to
venture far from the buildings where a "ride out crew" took cover during
the worst of the storm overnight.

Spokesman George Diller says, however, that quick peeks by people
stationed at various locations indicate that the VAB lost more of the
panels like the ones torn off during Hurricane Frances three weeks ago.

"At one point we were losing one every 2 or 3 minutes, but that's abated
we think," he said.

Other than that, KSC so far has been able to identify mostly "routine"
hurricane damage such as water getting inside some buildings.

Shuttles Endeavour, Discovery and Atlantis and their Orbiter Processing
Facility hangars all came through fine, although the wind continues to
whip and some dangerous storm bands are still hitting Cape Canaveral and
Titusville this morning.

All the International Space Station components stored inside a
processing building at KSC survived in good shape, Diller said.

"We think we can get a chance to get outside at 2 or 3 p.m.," Diller
said.

At that point, NASA officials will get a much better assessment of how
bad the situation is at the VAB and elsewhere. And, of course, the team
could find more damage.

Diller said it was too early to tell whether the additional panels
coming off the Vehicle Assembly Building have made worse the situation
in that facility - where the orbiters are connected to the external fuel
tanks and solid rocket boosters before launch.

"It's too soon to say," Diller said.

Weather devices at Kennedy Space Center measured peak gusts of 79 mph
during the storm, and officials there felt like the storm's sudden
westward turn - taking it slightly south of the projected path - may
have cut the maximum winds at the space center by at least 30 miles per
hour.

[end of article]

--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com


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In article ,
"Brian Gaff" wrote:

Gawd, who'd live in Florida...

Brian


What an insensitive comment. Who'd live in a country where you can't
get a decent cheeseburger on every corner and where people prefer beer
at room temperature? :-p

And trim your quotes; there are still lots of folks on dial-up.

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D.
"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."
~ Robert A. Heinlein
http://www.angryherb.net

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 14:09:02 GMT, "Brian Gaff"
wrote:

Gawd, who'd live in Florida...

Better than California. At least we can see hurricanes coming a week
away. Earthquakes, however, are out of nowhere...

Brian

Rusty Barton wrote:

Better than California. At least we can see hurricanes coming a week
away. Earthquakes, however, are out of nowhere...

Depends on the area of California. I live in Sacramento.
It's not in a major earthquake zone.


It's still much more active than Florida.

http://eqhazmaps.usgs.gov/images/2002US_scale.jpg

Paul

Herb Schaltegger wrote:
What an insensitive comment. Who'd live in a country where you can't
get a decent cheeseburger on every corner and where people prefer beer
at room temperature? :-p

Now, now. While I'll go along with your comment on the burgers
(anyone for a Mad Cow Burger with cheese?) British Ales are
a delight.

Brian Gaff wrote:

Gawd, who'd live in Florida...

Anyone who chooses to live in Florida gets what they deserve: Jeb Bush,
chagas bugs, hurricanes, the whole schmear.

"Scott M. Kozel" wrote:

http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/hurricane/stories/092604shuttles.htm

I guess this means you know who is not having a great day.


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On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 09:44:09 -0500, in a place far, far away, Brian
Thorn made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such
a way as to indicate that:

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 14:09:02 GMT, "Brian Gaff"
wrote:

Gawd, who'd live in Florida...

Better than California. At least we can see hurricanes coming a week
away. Earthquakes, however, are out of nowhere...

Having done both, I prefer earthquakes. If there were some level of
certainty to hurricane projections, it might be preferable to have
some warning, but I've spent much of the past three weeks stressed out
worrying about if, when and how hard they were going to hit.

Earthquakes are come as you are, and you basically have to be always
prepared for them, but they're just a little thing that's always in
the back of you mind. I've never had an earthquake wipe out my
productivity, either in prospect or afterward, like these storms here.

Rand Simberg wrote:
Having done both, I prefer earthquakes. If there were some level of
certainty to hurricane projections, it might be preferable to have
some warning, but I've spent much of the past three weeks stressed out
worrying about if, when and how hard they were going to hit.

Earthquakes are come as you are, and you basically have to be always
prepared for them, but they're just a little thing that's always in
the back of you mind. I've never had an earthquake wipe out my
productivity, either in prospect or afterward, like these storms here.

That's a really stupid statement Rand. Things like
death, destruction of your home and possessions,
destruction of your place of work, or destruction of
your neighborhood tend to be very major productivity
killers.