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As Hurricane Milton makes its way over Florida, things are "eerily calm" at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The KSC has been locked down ahead of the hurricane's arrival and has transitioned from requiring employees to report on site as directed by managers to only allowing access for essential emergency personnel and some other team members over the past few days.
With the KSC now in HURCON I, NASA broadcaster Megan Cruz shared fresh footage from the historic building as the KSC was under Milton's eye. A hurricane's eye is its centermost region from which the rest of the storm funnels out.
Sky Over NASA KSC Completely Blacked Out After Hurricane Milton Passes Over It
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida late last night after it passed over Florida's west coast. As it made contact, Milton was downgraded from Category 5 to Category 3, but weather experts still warned that some of the deadliest hurricanes in history, such as Katrina, had also undergone similar downgrades before wreaking billions of dollars in havoc.
By working with the Space Force's weather squadron, NASA had kept a close eye on Milton as it headed towards the KSC. Late at night yesterday, NASA's public affairs officer Megan Cruz shared on X that the Space Force had informed teams at the KSC that radars had picked up at least two tornadoes "just south" of the complex.
At that time, the KSC's Emergency Operations Center was observing Milton to see whether any damage had occurred. Cruz shared that 101 people were in the center roughly five hours after the KSC entered the military's HURCON I state of preparedness. HURCON I requires employees to stay sheltered and remain there unless given additional orders. It has three additional sub classifications which depend on wind speeds.
This week is important for NASA as the agency is gearing up to launch the Europa Clipper satellite to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Clipper has been in the works at NASA for years, and the launch is scheduled to occur on Sunday. Consequently, the pressure on NASA to monitor Milton is greater than it would have been otherwise, as Clipper is also safely stored on site at the KSC. The observation satellite is inside SpaceX's KSC hanger, and once the storm passes, teams will evaluate the KSC complex and then the launch processing site to assess the damage.
Early in the morning today Cruz shared that Milton's "eye" was "passing over" the KSC. Adding footage of the center as it was under Milton, she commented that it was "eerily calm outside" with "sustained winds below 15 knots."
Weather officials are particularly worried about a storm surge from Milton. A storm surge is where the sea level rises due to low pressure to create conditions that mimic a flood or a tsunami. Estimates suggest that Milton's storm surge could be as high as ten feet, and Milton was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane earlier today by the National Hurricane Center as it started to move away from Florida's east coast.
The eye is passing over @NASAKennedy right now. It’s eerily calm outside, with sustained winds below 15 knots. pic.twitter.com/qp1WmZnGMR
— Megan Cruz (@MeganDcCruz) October 10, 2024
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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