THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2004
Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are now closed to all personnel as the spaceport braces for Hurricane Frances. Emergency management officials will return to KSC and CCAFS after the storm passes to reactivate the operations center, followed by the damage assessment and recovery teams.
The hurricane's predicted path shows landfall south of the Cape midday Saturday. The forecast track takes Frances across the Florida peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico very slowly over the weekend.
"KSC houses some of the jewels of America's space flight program," said Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Readdy. "We've taken every precaution to secure our spacecraft and facilities and to keep our workers safe. In 40 years of space flight operations at Cape Canaveral, we've never sustained a direct hit from a hurricane, but we've always been prepared," he said.
Tutti e tre gli obriter sono nell'OPF (Orbiter Processing Facilty), in grado di resistere a 105 mph di venti sostenuti e di raffiche... con Frances si prevedono venti fino a 140 mph.
