In Brief

NASA Center in New Orleans Closed Through Sunday After Tornado Hit

By Tariq Malik
published

Tornado damage at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans is clearly visible in this aerial view of the center. A tornado hit the NASA center on Feb. 7, 2017.
Tornado damage at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans is clearly visible in this aerial view of the center. A tornado hit the NASA center on Feb. 7, 2017. (Image credit: Steven Seipel/NASA/MAF)

NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will remain closed through at least Sunday (Feb. 12) as recovery efforts continue after a powerful tornado struck the center this week, agency officials said. 

A tornado struck the Michoud Assembly Facility on Tuesday (Feb. 7), causing damage to the sprawling center where NASA once built massive stages of its Saturn V moon rocket and space shuttle fuel tanks. The core stage of NASA's new megarocket, the Space Launch System, will be manufactured at the assembly facility. You can see photos fo the tornado damage here. 

Tornado damage at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans is clearly visible in this aerial view of the center. A tornado hit the NASA center on Feb. 7, 2017. (Image credit: Steven Seipel/NASA/MAF)

Of the Michoud facility's 3,500 employees, five were injured when the tornado struck. NASA recovery crews have been working to restore the center to operational status so employees and tenants using the center's facilities can resume work. 

"The teams on-site have made good progress in their continued damage assessments and restoration work. Visual damage assessment are ongoing," NASA officials wrote in a status update today (Feb. 9). "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."

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.