KSC ride-out team braces for Matthew's impact

A 116-person ride-out team of NASA, Air Force and contractor personnel has been hunkered down in the Emergency Operations Center in the bowls of Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Control Center.

The team had planned to be spread out across major facilities at the spaceport, but consolidated for safety when landfall was predicted for a Category 4 Hurricane Matthew.

At 6 a.m. Friday, the edge of the storm’s eye wall was brushing Cape Canaveral, bringing 90 mph winds still with the potential to gust up to 130.

The center of the hurricane was located about 26 nautical miles off shore.

“That’s good for us,” said NASA spokesman George Diller.

That distance means the actual winds aren’t quite as intense as had been forecasted earlier on Thursday.

For now, the ride-out team has access to camera views of some facilities. It will likely be hours before any more close-up inspections are possible.

The team’s next formal weather briefing is planned at 9 a.m.

“All is not good, but all is well,” said Diller.

-- James Dean

Original story:

Kennedy Space Center expects to decide Wednesday morning if Hurricane Matthew's approach will force the spaceport to close at some point. Meanwhile, officials took steps to protect a next-generation weather satellite scheduled to launch next month.

Along with Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, KSC on Tuesday afternoon entered Hurricane Condition 3, or HURCON 3, meaning sustained winds of at least 58 mph were forecasted within 72 hours.

“All our work out here is to be devoted toward storm preparations,” said George Diller, a KSC spokesman. “We’ll decide Wednesday morning if we’re going to close the center and when.”

KSC, the Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base combined employ more than 21,000 people whose work could be affected.

Hurricane warnings in effect for Florida coast

Space Coast prepares for Hurricane Matthew strike

At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, teams on Tuesday began building a tent providing extra cover for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-R weather satellite, scheduled to launch Nov. 4 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The satellite, which is the first of four to fly in a more than $10 billion program, promises to vastly improve forecasting of hurricanes and other severe weather, possibly starting with next year’s hurricane season.

But NOAA satellites already flying in geostationary orbits more than 22,000 miles above the equator continue to provide forecasters with critical pictures and data about Matthew.

“We have other observations, but without a doubt, the geostationary satellite is the key, the basis for us being able to provide that information, especially when those storms are over the ocean,” said Louis Uccellini, director of NOAA's National Weather Service.

With the GOES-R mission still a month away, no rockets or spacecraft are currently in vulnerable positions on Cape Canaveral launch complexes.

Other flight hardware being cared for includes the core of an Orion crew module that NASA is assembling for a 2018 test flight, and an Air Force missile warning satellite whose launch recently was delayed from this month to early next year.

The 45th Space Wing said specialized response teams were being briefed on the hurricane’s status, and leadership was accounting for all personnel and families of deployed members. Teams began disconnecting electrical power to non-essential facilities.

Port Canaveral closing to ships, business on Wednesday

KSC also began securing facilities and equipment.

A briefing at 9 a.m. Wednesday is expected to confirm if the spaceport will be upgraded to Hurricane Condition 2, or HURCON 2, with winds of least 58 mph predicted within 48 hours.

KSC will then announce any plans to close the center and the KSC Visitor Complex. If necessary, a crew will be assigned to ride out the storm. Center bridges would remain open until sustained winds were forecasted to reach 58 mph.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com.And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.