KSC-04pd1775

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Members of a hurricane assessment team from Johnson Space Center and Marshall Space Flight Center observe the damage to the roof of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) Facility at KSC after Hurricane Frances hit the east coast of Central Florida and Kennedy Space Center. At left is astronaut Scott Altmann, a member of the team, and at center is Martin Wilson, manager of the TPS operations. The facility, which creates the TPS tiles, blankets and all the internal thermal control systems for the Space Shuttles, is almost totally unserviceable at this time after losing approximately 35 percent of its roof. Equipment and materials that survived the storm have been relocated to the RLV hangar near the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility.