spacetoday.net: Hurricane threat closes JSC

Posted: Thu, Sep 22, 2005, 6:40 AM ET (1040 GMT)
NASA

NASA closed the Johnson Space Center in Houston Wednesday as a powerful hurricane bore down on the Texas coast. NASA decided around midday Wednesday to shut down the center until the threat posed by Hurricane Rita passed, leaving behind a small "rideout" crew to monitor the center during the storm. The closure of JSC means that mission control for the International Space Station has been transferred to Moscow, although the shift will have no impact on ISS activities. Aircraft at JSC are being moved to El Paso to keep them out of harm's way. As of early Thursday Rita was a Category Five on the 1-5 scale of hurricane strength, with sustained winds of 280 km/h. The hurricane is forecast to make landfall on the Texas coast just southeast of Houston early Saturday.