Hurricane Katrina did a
half-billion dollars in damage at a vital shuttle manufacturing plant in
Louisiana, but a ride-out crew of 37 people saved the factory from what could
have been catastrophic damage.
Located on the northeast
side of New Orleans between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, the Michoud
Assembly Facility was swamped with heavy rains and battered by high winds as
Katrina came ashore Aug. 29.
But the ride-out crew was
able to keep generators and pumps running at the 43-acre plant, protecting
eight shuttle external tanks that were in various stages of assembly. The only
damage to flight hardware: dinged insulation on one of the 15-story tanks.
"They risked their
lives," NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said. "You can't buy the kind
of dedication that I saw down there from our folks for money -- for any amount
of money. It's not about salary or about holding a job. It's about dedication
to the program."
Katrina will be the
costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. The storm
caused more than $125 billion in damage in the New Orleans area and along the
Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The death toll cannot yet
be estimated.
The sprawling tank
manufacturing plant literally was cut off from the outside world by the killer
storm. Only helicopters and boats could get to the factory because surrounding
roadways were flooded.
Food, water and other
supplies had to be flown or ferried to the plant, and the people working on the
ride-out crew only had access to running water one hour each morning. Fresh
clothing didn't arrive for more than a week.
"We were fortunate
that water did not get over the levees into Michoud. There was, of course, an
immense amount of flooding, but the pumps were able to handle that. It wouldn't
have happened without the people who were staying there," Griffin said.
"It was really quite
profound to see it. If you could see what they had done and were not moved by
it, then you are not movable."
The Lockheed Martin factory
is one of the largest employers in New Orleans. Some 2,000 NASA and contractor
employees work there.
The plant was one of two
NASA facilities damaged by the hurricane.
Stennis Space Center in Bay
St. Louis, Miss., sustained $600 million in damage. NASA tests liquid-fueled
shuttle main engines there.
Katrina marked the second
consecutive year that hurricanes have damaged NASA facilities and stalled the
agency's efforts to return its shuttle fleet to service.
Hurricanes Charley, Frances
and Jeanne caused more than $100 million in damage at Kennedy Space Center in
August and September 2004.
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Future
Shuttle Flight Dates Uncertain in Hurricane's Wake
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