United Space Alliance workers Matt Carter left and Mike Sherman set up racks to hold equipment removed from the Thermal Protection System Facility.

In the RLV hangar at KSC, United Space Alliance workers Matt Carter (left) and Mike Sherman set up racks to hold equipment removed from the hurricane-ravaged Thermal Protection System Facility (TPSF). 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 due to Hurricane Frances, which blew across Central Florida Sept. 4-5. The maximum wind at the surface from Hurricane Frances was 94 mph from the northeast at 6:40 a.m. on Sunday, September 5. It was recorded at a weather tower located on the east shore of the Mosquito Lagoon near the Cape Canaveral National Seashore. The highest sustained wind at KSC was 68 mph.