NASA facility with deep-space rocket takes direct hit from a tornado(former work place!)

washingtonpost.com ^ | 2/7/2017 | Joel Achenbach

[rktman]

A tornado on Tuesday damaged the NASA facility in New Orleans where workers are building key components of the agency's new deep-space rocket.

The twister touched down before noon and ripped holes in the roof and walls of the sprawling Michoud Assembly Facility. NASA employees and contractors there are building the huge hydrogen and oxygen fuel tanks for the heavy-lift rocket known as the Space Launch System.

A NASA statement said all personnel were accounted for. A damage assessment was underway late Tuesday afternoon.

[rktman]

Prayers up for those affected. I worked there from '75 to '87 building the External Tanks for the Space Shuttle before transferring to Kennedy Space Center. Hope my friends are okay.

[PghBaldy]

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/tornado-recovery-underway-at-nasa-s-michoud-assembly-facility

[Pollster1]

Sharknado . . . tornadoes and sharks in space . . . who says they're not believable threats to NASA?

[Red Badger]

What is a ‘Deep Space’ rocket?.............

[rktman]

LOL! Probably one that goes past the moon.

[Conan the Librarian]

Sometimes back in the 80s or 90s a 747 made an emergency landing on one of the levies around this building....then took off again after being repaired.

[rktman]

Thanks. I put plenty of miles on my bike inside the 103 building back in the day. 43 acres under the roof.

[muleskinner]

Hope your friends are O.K. as well.

As far as SLS, time to pull the plug on it. Billions over budget and years behind schedule. NASA employees and contractors could work for Space-X, Blue Origin, Bigelow Space, Sierra Nevada, Orbital Sciences, Virgin Galactic, and many smaller ones that are not household names - yet. MAGA!

[rktman]

It was 1988 and a 737. After I left there for Fl. Not the first plane to land there.

http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=470615

[Charles Martel]

Sometimes back in the 80s or 90s a 747 made an emergency landing on one of the levies around this building....

I remember that. Even more amazing - it was a one-eyed pilot.

[wardamneagle]

But it was the first commercial jet to land and takeoff from a non municipal airport. The emergency landing was dead stick. Boeing sent down one of their test pilots to fly her out after engines fixed. Amazing takeoff !

[Rashputin]

"What is a ‘Deep Space’ rocket?............."

A Mars lander that that misses Mars?

[Pecos]

What I hear you saying is that when a government organization has no clear goals, but it does have lots of employees that can’t be fired, they end up spending tons of cash and produce nothing of value. Did I get that right?

[rktman]

Minimal fuel short distance to rotate.

[Karl Spooner]

Alternate route to video to bypass WP site.

https://youtu.be/qIGt7mFk7as

[TBP]

Wow!

My wife used to work for NASA, via contractors.

[rktman]

I started as a sub with Martin Marietta before the lockheed merger and we became Lockheed Martin. 36 yrs.

[TBP]

What part of the country?

[rktman]

Michoud in New Orleans for 12 years then at KSC for 24 more.

[TBP]

My wife was at Goddard, then at the Center for Aerospace Information.