Hurricane Ike and Nasa update.

<-- I 45 down to Galveston and the JP Morgan tower in down town. ( one of the tallest buildings in North America lost almost all windowns.

So I just wanted to bring to attention what has been happening in Houston. My parents rode out the storm in North Houston. The area up there is OK a lot of major damage was on the coast and in the centre of the city. There are though a estimated 7 million people without power in the area. From my experience living there it could be weeks for some of those people to get power back. In my opinion I would rather shovel than deal with hurricanes ever again.

Sean JSP

NASA update

NASA's Mission Control at Johnson Space Center sustained roof damage from high winds during Hurricane Ike, the space agency said Saturday.

A rideout team operating the control center during the storm was able to protect computers and other critical equipment before they could be damaged, said space agency spokesman John Ira Petty.

NASA closed the space center at midday Thursday and opened a backup control center at a hotel in the Austin area to make sure it could watch over the three-man American-Russian crew aboard the international space station.

The backup control facility is communicating with the station through NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The Huntsville installation serves as the regular control center for scientific activities aboard the orbital outpost. The arrangement has worked smoothly, Petty said.

In addition to the Mission Control damage, NASA said, Ike caused roof damage to a hangar at Ellington Field that houses NASA aircraft. NASA flew most of the nearly 50 aircraft that astronauts use for training to El Paso before the storm. The nine that remained at Ellington are not believed to have been damaged, Petty said.

NASA had feared that a storm surge from Galveston Bay would flood some buildings on the 1,600-acre Space Center. Its southeast boundary is near Clear Lake, which is connected to Galveston Bay. However, the water did not rise that high.

Petty said inspections continued Saturday and found damage to roofs, trees and some utility poles. Johnson Space Center lost power but used generators to provide critical installations.

The space agency has not decided when the center will reopen for its 16,500-person work force, but it may be several days before inspectors complete a thorough safety investigation, Petty said.

-- Mark Carreau