spacetoday.net: NASA hurricane damage may exceed $1 billion

Posted: Fri, Sep 9, 2005, 8:27 AM ET (1227 GMT)
Michoud Assembly Facility damage (NASA)

NASA officials said Thursday that Hurricane Katrina may cost the agency over $1 billion, but declined to speculate how much of a delay, if any, the storm would cause to the shuttle launch schedule. Officials said the cost to repair damage at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, as well as relief, including temporary housing, for displaced workers, could reach $1.1 billion. It wasn't clear if NASA would be forced to shoulder the cost within its existing and planned budgets, or if the costs would be paid from future disaster relief supplemental bills. Officials also said that they have been unable to locate about 1,000 Michoud workers, about half of the facility's workforce. Responding to reports earlier this week, based on a leaked internal memo, that it was unlikely the shuttle would launch again before next fall, shuttle managers said that it was premature to make any decisions on when the shuttle would fly again, and refused to rule out a launch in March as currently planned. In the interim NASA is considering doing some external tank work at the Kennedy Space Center rather than Michoud.