#michoud

Teams at our Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans worked overnight and are continuing Wednesday with assessment and recovery efforts following a tornado strike at the facility Tuesday at 11:25 a.m. CST. All 3,500 employees at the facility have been accounted for, with five sustaining minor injuries.

Teams worked through the night on temporary repairs to secure the perimeter fencing and provide access for the essential personnel through the main gate. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of the buildings at Michoud have some kind of damage; about five buildings have some form of severe damage.

Approximately 200 parked cars were damaged, and there was damage to roads and other areas near Michoud.

“The entire NASA family pulls together during good times and bad, and the teams at the Michoud Assembly Facility are working diligently to recover from the severe weather that swept through New Orleans Tuesday and damaged the facility,” said acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot. “We are thankful for the safety of all the NASA employees and workers of onsite tenant organizations, and we are inspired by the resilience of Michoud as we continue to assess the facility’s status.”

Teams will reassess the condition of the Vertical Assembly Center (VAC), as the initial examination revealed some electrical damage to its substation. The VAC is used to weld all major pieces of hardware for the core stage of the Space Launch System. The most recently welded part was removed from the facility last week.

The team has prioritized completing the assessment at the site’s main manufacturing building for the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft flight hardware so power can be restored in phases and temporary protection put in place to shield hardware from any further inclement weather.

Tornadoes hit New Orleans and NASA Facility

At least 7 tornadoes tore through Louisiana and Mississippi on February 7, killing one, injuring dozens, destroying homes, and even damaging the NASA facility where the new Space Launch System (SLS) rockets and Orion spacecraft are being built. Some of the tornadoes hit New Orleans (NOLA), destroying homes that had to be rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.

Big storms are not unusual for Louisiana during winter, but the strength of Tuesday’s tornadoes were atypical. It’s the first time an EF-3 tornado has hit NOLA. EF stands for “Enhanced Fujita Scale”, a set of wind estimates used to describe tornadoes. It means that the tornado produced winds ranging from 136 to 165 mph (219 to 266 kph). The EF-3 that cut through NOLA destroyed an estimated 300 buildings with and another 640 seriously damaged. Some of those buildings were homes that had to be rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the city in August of 2005.

Among the damaged are buildings of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility located in eastern NOLA. NASA estimates that 40 to 50 percent of the buildings were impacted. Michoud’s main manufacturing building has some impressive holes in it from the storm and the first external tank ever mounted to a Space Shuttle for testing was destroyed, but luckily the SLS and Orion spacecraft were unscathed. All 3,500 employees have been accounted for and only minor injuries were reported. The facility is closed while repairs are being made.

Other tornadoes touched down near Baton Rouge and four other communities in southeastern Louisiana, and one more in Mississippi. Damage assessments are on-going.

RE