More Michoud damage. Second warning underway.

No flight hardware appears to be damaged. More to come as we get information.

At 11:25 a.m. CST, a tornado impacted NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. At this time, only minor injuries have been reported and NASA employees and other tenants are being accounted for.

There is still a threat of severe weather in the area and emergency officials are continuing to monitor the situation to ensure the safety of onsite personnel. The onsite Michoud emergency response team is also conducting damage assessments of buildings and facilities.

Tornado Recovery Underway at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility

Recovery efforts are underway at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which was impacted by a tornado at 11:25 a.m. CST Tuesday. All 3,500 employees at the facility have been accounted for, with five sustaining minor injuries.

"Our hearts go out to our employees and the people in New Orleans who have suffered from this serious storm," said Keith Hefner, director of the facility. "The safety of our team is always our main concern, and we are pleased to report that we've identified only minor injuries."

The facility is currently closed and will remain closed Wednesday, Feb. 8, with only emergency personnel on site to continue damage assessments. All NASA employees and tenants who are not involved in emergency operations have been evacuated. Local law enforcement helped ensure employees arrived home safely. All utilities and services to the facility are being secured and efforts are underway to restore power.

At this time, emergency personnel have identified damage to building numbers 103, 350 and additional structures. Building 103, Michoud's main manufacturing building, has roof damage in several areas. Approximately 200 parked cars were damaged, and there was damage to roads and other areas near Michoud.

"Michoud has a comprehensive emergency plan that we activated today to ensure the safety of our people and to secure our facilities," said Hefner. "I am proud of our dedicated team onsite who are successfully implementing that plan."

Hardware for NASA's heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, and the Orion spacecraft is secure, and no damage from the storm has been idenfied to hardware or the barge Pegasus docked at Michoud.

Tornado destroys first NASA space shuttle external tank to stand on launch pad

NASA's first space shuttle external tank to stand on a launch pad was destroyed on Tuesday (Feb. 7) when a tornado impacted the New Orleans facility where it was built 40 years ago.

The external tank-ground vibration test article (ET-GVTA) was in outdoor storage at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana when the storm hit the site at Tuesday morning. Reports of the tank being "sent flying and destroyed" were shared by people at the facility.

Tornado Recovery Efforts, Assessments Ongoing at NASA's Michoud

Teams at NASA's 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.

Michoud remains closed to all but security and emergency operations crews. Temporary flight restrictions are in place over the area to ensure recovery and operations crews can complete their work without interference from other drones or low-flying aircraft. All Michoud personnel are accounted for, and no new injuries have been reported.

"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 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.

Efforts Wednesday are focused on completing damage assessments and restoring power to buildings that are in the best condition, including the main NASA administration building, boiler house, and U.S. Coast Guard facilities. Power was restored to the east master substation, and it will be used to begin methodically and safely restoring power to buildings. The west master substation sustained some damage that will need to be repaired before it can begin receiving power.

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.

NASA Status Update on Tornado Recovery at Michoud Assembly Facility

The facility will remain closed to all work activities through Sunday, allowing recovery efforts to continue at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans following the tornado strike on Feb. 7 at 11:25 a.m. CST.

The site is accessible only to emergency and essential personnel. The facilities teams are working swiftly to transition from emergency state to restore continuity of operations, with a desire to bring tenants and NASA activities back up safely and methodically.

The teams have made good progress in their continued damage assessments and restoration work. Visual damage assessment are ongoing. Power has been restored to key substations, the main NASA administration building, and the U.S. Coast Guard facilities with further progress is expected today.

All events, conferences, and other non-essential functions have been postponed indefinitely until safe and normal operations resume.

quote:

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Originally posted by GACspaceguy:
...damaged beyond repair even for a display.

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Michoud Assembly Facility Re-opens to Designated Employees

Significant progress has been made on tornado recovery, and NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility reopened on Monday, Feb. 13 for normal operations with a few exceptions.

Michoud Safety and Security completed an initial damage assessment of the 81 buildings and structures at the 829-acre facility. Power and utilities are restored to most of the site, and the team has made steady progress clearing debris, repairing buildings, and helping employees remove damaged cars. Access to seven buildings (110, 114, 130, 131, 303, 318, and 350) is not allowed because tornado damage assessments and restoration activities are continuing. Three of the seven closed buildings have significant damage, and the team continues to assess damage to these structures and identify strategic recovery plans.

Teams for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket and the Orion spacecraft are back on-site with some restarting regular work and others assessing the status of tooling and hardware in areas of buildings that experienced tornado damage. Both SLS and Orion structures are being built in Building 103, which experienced some damage, but power has been restored to most of that building.

Employees should check with their employer for instructions about returning to work.

The temporary flight restrictions over the area remain in effect to ensure recovery and operations crews can complete their work without interference from other drones or low-flying aircraft.

"So we had all three parts of the ground vibration test article from the first external tank there on the facility," he explained.

"The hydrogen tank and the oxygen tank were stored out in the parking lot south of 103, right in the direct path of the tornado. They were sitting in cradles. The intertank [was] inside of the building since we're using it to help develop the foam spraying techniques for the SLS intertank. So the tank was in three pieces as it has been for quite a long time now."

"The hydrogen tank flew directly towards the building, towards 103. The oxygen tank that was sitting next to it flew in exactly the opposite direction out towards the levee," Mr. Doering explained.

"And they both basically exploded, we believe, because of the pressure drop and because of the orifices in the tank, the holes in the tank weren't large enough for it to vent that quickly. So the LOX tank is out in the field in thousands of pieces."

"The hydrogen tank as it came from the other direction, the two domes blew off – the two ends 'blew off'," he continued. "Now you're left with a very poor (structure) – like a cardboard tube in a paper towel roll. It rolled over a car, completely flattened it, (and) hit the utility tray that runs along the back of 103. That I believe is where the gas leak was, because the gas lines run in a utility tray.

"(It then) flew over the utility tray and came to rest completely crumpled up as you saw in the pictures underneath another utility tray. And its domes were shredded – they're all over the place in the general area."