spacetoday.net: NASA centers close in wake of devastating terrorist attacks

Updated: Tue, Sep 11, 2001, 8:00 PM ET (0000 GMT)
Originally Posted: Tue, Sep 11, 2001, 2:46 PM ET (1846 GMT)
NASA

NASA has closed all its facilities in the wake of a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that have rocked New York City and Washington DC. NASA Headquarters in Washington and Goddard Space Flight Center, located in the Maryland suburbs, were closed this morning, according to Spaceflight Now; a note on the Goddard web site advises employees to check in before reporting for work tomorrow. At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida a "Threatcon Delta", the highest of four emergency conditions, has been declared, and the center has shut down. Individual sources as well as SPACE.com now report that all NASA facilities have closed, with no word regarding when they would reopen; some reports late Tuesday indicate that this may not be until Thursday. The measures come after an unprecedented terrorist attack that involved several hijacked passenger jets that were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington: the twin towers of the World Trade Center have collapsed and there is fire at and considerable damage to the Pentagon. Many federal and other facilities nationwide have been closed, and all air traffic nationwide has been shut down. Many key government officials have been evacuated from Washington and President Bush, in Florida at the time of the attacks, has been flown to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana; he later flew to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska before returning to Washington late Tuesday. The aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center was witnessed by the crew onboard the International Space Station, and Expedition Three commander Frank Culbertson said that "our prayers and thoughts go out to all the people there and everywhere else." As do ours.