September 02, 2005
Michoud Damage Photos

NASA has finally released images showing the damage to Michoud Assembly Facility. Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be all that much.

This image shows the damage to the VAB. There is some damage to the northeast corner of the roof deck, with a few of the roof vents and the security camera torn off as well. Narrow strips and (relatively) small patches of siding are missing here and there, there is some damage to the big doors, and many of the green panels at the tops of the walls are missing. Note the jagged triangular hole next to the big doors looks curiously like the discolored replacement panels that used to be there -- oops. Cells P, N, and M appear undamaged, as does what is visible of the Kistler trailers and the carpentry shop, but one of the gas trailers near "Beau Chene" appears to have shifted a bit and one of its tiedowns come loose. The meatball is damaged but mostly intact. Surprisingly, the sheetmetal enclosures over the pipes behind Bldg. 103 are intact, as is the miscellaneous equipment, scrapyard, and outbuildings visible in that area and further out towards the tank farm. The Bldg. 103 roof and fanhouses in this image are also intact -- the Facilities people responsible should get a bonus for their new roof. While there is some water ponded on the pavement, there is no flooding visible in the image. (Hey, when did they tear out the old railroad tracks?)

This picture shows what I think is Cell A, with a tank in it.

There are more pictures available here, but our Flash-happy friends at NASA REQUIRE would-be viewers to have the Macromedia plugin to view them. Yet another non-value-added use of Flash animation for the sake of using Flash animation -- all I need is a page of thumbnails.

If anyone can find a link to view these pictures without being forced to use Flash, please let me know...I'd like to see them.

Posted by T.L. James on September 2, 2005 09:32 PM

Comments

There are five additional pictures in the gallery.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/katrina_gallery/images/HK021.jpg
The first is an overall view of the site from above the levee, behind Bldg. 420. The Biodynamics Lab portion of 420 has some roof and siding damage, and there's some siding missing from the monkey slide, but the rest of the building appears okay. The LH2 pressure test building has about two thirds of its roof peeled off. There appears to be something funky going on with the forward end of the booster, but it's hard to tell at such a distance. What is visible of the security/medical building at the center-left and Bldg. 350 at top left is okay. Some trees along the main entrance are down, and either the guard shack there is obscured by trees or it's...umm...not there.

The second is the VAB picture described above, and the third is the Cell A picture in which nothing out of the ordinary is really visible.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/katrina_gallery/images/100_0117.JPG
The fourth image shows the east end of Bldg. 103, in the commercial/Kistler/ASRM/NCAM area. Some of the roofing material above the 40' door has peeled off the decking, and some of the decking came off near the outer wall, directly above the door. Several trees are downed along the inner fence. Bldg 101 appears undamaged from a distance, as do the chimneys. There's a few shingles missing from the walls of Bldg. 103

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/katrina_gallery/images/HK027.jpg
Uh-oh, Wes...looks like the concrete panels from the roof decking fell in around the UWS (that's the blue machine just visible in the gloom, for those of you not familiar with Michoud). This view is looking in through the 40' door, under the damaged area visible in the previous photo. The boxes in the foreground are shipping containers from Amro, used to transport ET component panels (the funny shaped one is for dome gores, I think).

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/katrina_gallery/images/100_0124.JPG
This image shows the east end of the facility, with the scrap building (or whatever it's called) in the center of the image showing quite a bit of siding damage. The hazardous waste building in front of it (if that's what it is) is intact.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/katrina_gallery/images/100_0123.JPG
The last image shows the shipping and receiving building, Bldg. 220, with a small area of significant roof damage on the south side. The steam/chiller plant appears undamaged, as do the facilities shop (or whatever that low building to the right is) and the "tank engine test building" beside it. The fence or wall around the outbuilding to the south side of 220 has slumped to the ground, and several trees have been uprooted.



Posted by: T.L. James at September 3, 2005 02:43 PM

I am glad to hear of so many people coming through OK. We kept our house in the city and had rented it out. The tennants took of for AL and are OK.

NOAA has taken an aerial survey you can access from www.noaa.gov (see, someone is doing their job). Look for your location of interest on the map- the photos actually have complete coverage- the rectangles just show where the image is centered. The orientation appears random, so you will need to find a landmark to tell which way is North. The resolution is good enough to see missing tiles on roofs- or tell if roofs are there.

It looks like our house is flooded. And I thought that new kitchen I put in would be able to last 40 years.

Believe it or not, Tucson has been taking people in. The mayor here thinks the town can take in ~2000, and kids are already being put in schools. It has been very strange to be going in to work this week while this has been going on. My thoughts, hopes, and prayers have been with all of you.



Posted by: Rich Wright at September 4, 2005 11:27 AM