Posted: Sun, Sep 12, 2004, 10:06 AM ET (1406 GMT)
Kennedy Space Center officials said Saturday they believe powerful Hurricane Ivan will not come close enough to the spaceport to cause additional damage. Ivan, which as of Sunday morning was a powerful Category 4 hurricane with peak sustained winds of 250 km/h, is expected to pass well to the west of KSC, with the center of the storm passing more than 300 km from the spaceport. That passage should limit wind speeds at KSC to no more than about 75 km/h, preventing further damage to spaceport facilities. Hurricane Frances caused considerable damage to KSC a week ago, stripping several hundreds panels off the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and tore a hole in its roof. Two other buildings at KSC, including one that manufactures shuttle tiles, were also extensively damaged during the storm. KSC officials said there is little they could do to repair the damage of those buildings in advance of Ivan. Replacing the panels on the VAB is expected to take several weeks alone to complete.

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