Hurricane Matthew damages NASA’S Kennedy Space Center 39
(Mirror Daily, United States) NASA officials announced that one of their facilities was damaged by the Hurricane Matthew, on Saturday. The storm took over Florida and the Kennedy Space Center owned by NASA there. The storm was labeled as a category 3 out of 5, which is considered to be quite dangerous.
Officials at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida released images showing the damages caused by the storm. The top of a rocket was taken away by the wind, as well as the roof of another facility. Other buildings were also damaged. They also experienced power cuts and water supply difficulties.
NASA specialists also made an aerial survey in order to have an accurate view of the damages. Some of their buildings escaped the wrath of the hurricane. Such is the case of the Vehicle Assembly Building, which has fifty-two storeys. However, the building was severely damaged by other strong storms in the past, such as Hurricane Jeanne twelve years ago.
Other buildings next to the Vehicle Assembly Building seemed to have escaped the fury of Hurricane Matthew too. The launch complex initially built for the Apollo program was also undamaged. The indoor exhibits are also safe.
However, a beach house used by astronauts was not that lucky. The roof was torn away by the angry winds. The house was built in 1962 and had two storeys. It was used by astronauts before launching rockets. Nevertheless, the damage can be repaired.
Trailers in the parking and parts of the fence surrounding it were partially damaged by the storm too.
However, all in all, a report listing all the damages could conclude that Hurricane Matthew didn’t affect the NASA facility in Florida much. Judging by the aggressiveness of the storm, the damages could have been more severe.
The Visitors Complex was closed only on Saturday while evaluating the damage. People could visit the facility on Sunday, just two days after the storm. The program came back to normal starting Monday, October 10.
What spared most of the facilities is that the hurricane kept its distance and had most of its activity offshore. Meteorologists predicted that the storm would head towards the location of the NASA facility, but it didn’t.
Hurricane Matthew blew winds of one hundred forty-five kilometers per hour in Florida. The aerial survey was necessary in order to state the damages and proceed with repairing. Officials estimate that the facility will recover soon.
Image courtesy of: Wikipedia