Hurricane Dorian: NASA’s launch hardware survived storm, Kennedy Space Center confirms

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Hurricane Dorian's eye moves over Hatteras, North Carolina

Janice Dean has the latest from the Fox Extreme Weather Center.

Launch infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center survived Hurricane Dorian, NASA has confirmed.

"We're happy to report no flight hardware was damaged during this storm,” Kennedy Space Center tweeted late Thursday.

The Space Center reopened for normal operations earlier this morning.

HURRICANE DORIAN: NASA VIDEO SHOWS 62 MPH WIND AND RAIN WHIPPING THROUGH KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

Aerial footage showed the gigantic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center unscathed in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

Earlier this week, NASA posted a video on social media that showed 62 mph wind and rain from Hurricane Dorian whipping through the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Control Center parking lot at 3.a.m. EDT Wednesday.

At its closest point, the eye of the hurricane came within 70 nautical miles of Cape Canaveral, according to NASA. “Data from our 250 foot tower clocked the top windspeed at 90 mph,” Kennedy Space Center tweeted.

A 120-strong team of NASA personnel rode out the storm at Kennedy Space Center, carefully monitoring key launch infrastructure.

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On Aug. 30, NASA confirmed that its Mobile Launcher had been moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building to protect it from Dorian.

The Mobile Launcher is key to America’s space future. It'll be used to launch NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B for future Artemis missions to the Moon.

Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex also reopened Friday.

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In 2017, NASA said that Kennedy Space Center had sustained “a variety of damage” as a result of Hurricane Irma. A year earlier, NASA reported limited damage to Kennedy Space Center from Hurricane Matthew.

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Hurricane Dorian howled over North Carolina's Outer Banks on Friday. Its winds down to 90 mph, the Category 1 hurricane lashed communities with wind, rain and floodwaters as it hugged the islands. Around midmorning, it blew ashore at Cape Hatteras, making its first landfall on the U.S. mainland.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers