Hurricane Ike delays docking at station

A supply-laden Russian cargo carrier will loiter in orbit near the International Space Station until NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston can reopen in the wake of Hurricane Ike, which packs the potential for producing some serious flooding at Johnson Space Center.

The Progress M30 blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday and had been scheduled to dock at the outpost later today. The orbital link-up now is tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday.

NASA and its Russian partners agreed to delay the docking after the approach of Ike prompted NASA on Thursday to close Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Mission Control Center there.

Back-up flight control centers were activated near Austin and at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. But command-and-control capabilities at either are limited, so NASA officials and counterparts with the Russian Federal Space Agency decided to delay the docking.

At 11 a.m. today, Ike was centered about 195 miles southeast of Galveston, moving to the west-northwest near 12 mph, the Associated Press reported. Hurricane warnings were in effect over a 400-mile stretch of coastline from south of Corpus Christi to Morgan City, La. Tropical storm warnings extended south almost to the Mexican border and east to the Mississippi-Alabama line, including New Orleans.

Johnson Space Center is located on the edge of Clear Lake, a body of water that merges with Galveston Bay just three miles from the center.

"Our big worry is about the tidal surge," JSC spokesman John Ira Petty said.

Forecasts predict a surge anywhere from eight feet to 20 feet at JSC. Ike also is expected to produce rainfall amounts between five and 10 inches over eastern Texas and extreme southwestern Louisiana. Some areas could see up to 15 inches of rains.

"I'm very worried about our folks down there," NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said today during a question-and-answer session today with employees.

Griffin praised NASA’s preparations in advance of Hurricane Gustav, but said there was little to do now but wait and see how much damage Ike causes.

"It could be a lot more serious this time, and we just have to see what it is and cope with it afterward," Griffin said.

Now rated a Category 2 hurricane, Ike is expected to make landfall late tonight or early Saturday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami is forecasting coastal storm surge flooding up to 20 feet with a few spots near 25 feet. Tides are expected to be well above normal along with "large and dangerous battering waves." The storm surge is expected to extend "a greater than usual distance from the center due to the large size of the cyclone."

NOTE ON IMAGES: Click to enlarge and save the Asssociated Press photo of the Progress M30 spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz-U from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Then click the enlarged image to see an even bigger view. You can also click to enlarge the National Hurricane Center's latest projected path of Ike by the National Hurricane Center