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Hurricane Floyd Endangers Shuttles, Station
By Kenneth Silber
Staff Writer
posted: 03:44 pm ET
13 September 1999
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floyd_shuttlesThe nation's space shuttle fleet is at risk from Hurricane Floyd, which is approaching Florida's Atlantic coast with winds strong enough to destroy the buildings housing the vehicles. The International Space Station is also at risk. All four shuttles and the station are at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral. The shuttle Atlantis is in the center's massive Vertical Assembly Building, which is able to withstand winds of up to 125 mph. The shuttles Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavor are in hangars known as Orbiter Processing Facilities, which can withstand winds up to 105 mph. The International Space Station is in the Space Station Processing Facility, a building that can withstand winds up to 110 mph. Hurricane Floyd is currently near the Bahamas, and is packing winds up to 155 mph. NASA spokesman George Diller, reached at KSC, said that "it's possible" the buildings could take a direct hit from Hurricane Floyd that would exceed their capacity to withstand the winds. However, it remains unclear whether the hurricane will take a path that exposes Cape Canaveral to a direct hit. Diller is a member of the "ride-out team" that will remain at the space center until late Tuesday.
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