Author Topic: Tornado hits NASA Michoud  (Read 30643 times)

Offline collectSPACE

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #40 on: 02/08/2017 06:16 pm »
Tornado destroys first NASA space shuttle external tank to stand on launch pad
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-020817a-michoud-tornado-shuttle-external-tank.html

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.

Offline edkyle99

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #41 on: 02/08/2017 06:32 pm »
This image attributed to NASA/Steven Seipel via. CollectSpace.

First the Cape Canaveral Navaho, now ET-GVTA.  A bad few months for space artifacts.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 02/08/2017 06:33 pm by edkyle99 »

Offline Rocket Science

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #42 on: 02/08/2017 06:45 pm »
Sad... :(
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Offline psloss

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #43 on: 02/08/2017 09:17 pm »
Update:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/tornado-recovery-efforts-assessments-ongoing-at-nasa-s-michoud

Feb. 8, 2017
RELEASE 17-013

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.

For more information about Michoud, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/michoud

-end-

Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
[email protected]

Kim Newton                                                                                           
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
[email protected]

Online catdlr

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #44 on: 02/09/2017 01:58 am »
This image attributed to NASA/Steven Seipel via. CollectSpace.

First the Cape Canaveral Navaho, now ET-GVTA.  A bad few months for space artifacts.

 - Ed Kyle

Based on the last two pictures above, it seems the tank got loose from the moorings and rolled over the truck, bounced over the elevated fuel lines and landed on the other side of that.  I will post an overhead picture of what I think occurred.

The Red star is where the remains of the tank has moved to and the blue star is the crushed truck.
« Last Edit: 02/09/2017 01:59 am by catdlr »
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Offline woods170

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #45 on: 02/09/2017 07:03 am »
This image attributed to NASA/Steven Seipel via. CollectSpace.

First the Cape Canaveral Navaho, now ET-GVTA.  A bad few months for space artifacts.

 - Ed Kyle

Based on the last two pictures above, it seems the tank got loose from the moorings and rolled over the truck, bounced over the elevated fuel lines and landed on the other side of that.  I will post an overhead picture of what I think occurred.

The Red star is where the remains of the tank has moved to and the blue star is the crushed truck.
Well, looks like this tank got to fly after all...
Too bad for this piece of historical hardware but museum stuff should not be displayed outdoors IMO.

Offline SWGlassPit

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #46 on: 02/09/2017 02:53 pm »
Well, looks like this tank got to fly after all...
Too bad for this piece of historical hardware but museum stuff should not be displayed outdoors IMO.

You're making the mistake of calling it "displayed."  It was just stored there, rotting.  It's only museum stuff if a museum asks for it and NASA gives it to them or if NASA forms an exhibit in place.  Something the size of an ET, though historic, is impractical for nearly every museum out there.  There's a lot of hardware that meets a similar fate: "someone" should preserve, archive, and display it, but it never happens.

Offline Citabria

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #47 on: 02/09/2017 03:59 pm »
« Last Edit: 02/09/2017 04:05 pm by Citabria »

Offline Citabria

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #48 on: 02/09/2017 05:27 pm »
Looks to me like the crushed truck is further to the right than the blue star (see the parking lot island?) and was crushed by rollover. The tank may have hit the elevated pipeline instead.
« Last Edit: 02/09/2017 06:05 pm by Citabria »

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #49 on: 02/09/2017 06:14 pm »
The Red star is where the remains of the tank has moved to and the blue star is the crushed truck.

Imagine the insurance form for that truck:

"Cause of damage? Crushed by space shuttle tank."

Offline SWGlassPit

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #50 on: 02/09/2017 06:34 pm »
The Red star is where the remains of the tank has moved to and the blue star is the crushed truck.

Imagine the insurance form for that truck:

"Cause of damage? Crushed by space shuttle tank."

My homeowners insurance (and I think my car insurance) specifically names losses due to spacecraft as covered.  Not sure about disused test or pathfinder hardware though :-).

Offline woods170

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #51 on: 02/09/2017 07:54 pm »
Well, looks like this tank got to fly after all...
Too bad for this piece of historical hardware but museum stuff should not be displayed outdoors IMO.

You're making the mistake of calling it "displayed."  It was just stored there, rotting.  It's only museum stuff if a museum asks for it and NASA gives it to them or if NASA forms an exhibit in place.  Something the size of an ET, though historic, is impractical for nearly every museum out there.  There's a lot of hardware that meets a similar fate: "someone" should preserve, archive, and display it, but it never happens.
Well good. If it was rotting outdoors then there is no loss in mother nature having accelarated things a bit. At least now there is a reason to cut the crushed remains to pieces and dispose of them properly instead of "abandon in place".

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #52 on: 02/09/2017 08:13 pm »
Tornado Recovery Ongoing at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans LA

NASA's Marshall Center

Published on Feb 9, 2017
Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are continuing with recovery efforts following a tornado strike at the facility Tuesday, Feb. 7. Michoud remains closed to all but security and emergency operations crews. For more than half a century, Michoud has been the space agency’s premiere site for manufacturing and assembly of large-scale space structures and systems.

Updated 2/9 later day: Revised video



« Last Edit: 02/10/2017 12:32 am by catdlr »
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Offline collectSPACE

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #53 on: 02/09/2017 08:23 pm »
...instead of "abandon in place".

As noted by Dennis Jenkins in our article, there were reportedly plans (ideas?) to use the ET-GVTA for an exhibit on the components of the external tank, so it wasn't exactly abandoned in place as much as it was in outdoor storage.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #54 on: 02/09/2017 09:50 pm »
Quote
February 9, 2017: 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 on-site 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.
Last Updated: Feb. 9, 2017

http://go.nasa.gov/2kxuN8M

Offline psloss

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #55 on: 02/09/2017 11:33 pm »
Looking at the related posts, I found three aerial photos posted there; EXIF tag on these said they were taken on February 8.  (Yesterday.)  Can see some of the siding off Building 110 and the front of the Final Assembly area of 103.  Also a little roof damage on that "western" end of 103, including near Area 6 where the CS-1 LH2 tank was last we saw it.

Can also partially see the area behind 110 where the ET GVTA was...all I see is a spare dome still there.

And the bottom one shows 350, which is where we often go first when visiting...
« Last Edit: 02/09/2017 11:39 pm by psloss »

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #56 on: 02/13/2017 02:41 pm »
Quote
Our Michoud facility reopened today, but recovery efforts from last week's tornado are ongoing. Details: http://go.nasa.gov/2l7s1Z4

https://twitter.com/nasa/status/831158895578079236

Offline psloss

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #57 on: 02/28/2017 01:59 am »
Multiple vortices. Yikes!

Saw this video on the Weather Channel...there's some NSFW language in the audio...under the circumstances, I probably would have dropped a few expletives, too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQOU9KJAzor/?taken-by=east_side_tv
A few screengrabs from this for possible future use.

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #58 on: 03/03/2017 01:27 pm »
An amazing (and very long) overview of the current status via an interview/feature by Philip Sloss:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/03/maf-tornado-strike-sls-critical-path/
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Offline rdale

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Re: Tornado hits NASA Michoud
« Reply #59 on: 03/03/2017 01:33 pm »
Wow - that's a weather/space lover's dream combo :)

I cannot express how INSANELY disappointed in NASA that they apparently didn't notify people of the tornado. The warning was issued with at least 10 minutes of lead time...

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