Shooting at Johnson space center

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There isn't a lot of information is there?

I thought NASA had their own "security force" as they are a DOD entity. I thought that they had a lot of security since they were a terrorist target and certainly are a espionage target.
 
I thought NASA had their own "security force" as they are a DOD entity.
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When I worked for a NASA contractor in Cleveland in the '80s and '90s, the guards were civilian contractors. One of them shot himself in the leg on the Fairview Park, OH police range when he attempted to holster his Glock 17 with his finger on the trigger...
 
When I worked for a NASA contractor in Cleveland in the '80s and '90s, the guards were civilian contractors. One of them shot himself in the leg on the Fairview Park, OH police range when he attempted to holster his Glock 17 with his finger on the trigger...
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"I'm the only one professional enough to be carrying a Glock" ..BAM

Well, maybe that is what the incident is. A guard left his gun in the bathroom and someone was going to return it.... :neener:
 
Ask the Russians why they need guns in space, they have them....

Okay I was being a jerk... Russians have them in their survival gear for when they come back down, if they end up in the middle of nowhere they may need the correct survival tool for the job, and sometimes that tool is a firearm.
 
errrr....

If you shot a round off in space, I guess it would just keep going until it left the galaxy or something got in the way...
 
Jeez I wish you guys would post the darned articles!

http://www.cnn.com/
Gunman opened fire at NASA building, police say
NASA evacuated a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after a person with a gun was seen and a shot was fired, a NASA spokeswoman said Friday. Brandi Dean said it was not yet known if anyone was hurt. NASA spokesperson James Hartfield told CNN there were gunshots heard in the building. He added NASA security rules do not allow weapons on the property.
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Yup, another gun-free zone working as well as we've come to expect.

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- NASA evacuated a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after an employee with a gun was seen and a shot was fired, a NASA spokesman said Friday.

A SWAT team with the Houston Police has been dispatched to building 44 on the Johnson Space Center property, a source told CNN. Building 44 holds a laboratory.

The call for help came in to the Houston Police at 1:40 p.m. (2:40 p.m. ET) but it's unclear who made that call.

NASA spokesman James Hartfield said all of the employees that would have been in that building have been evacuated.

There is "extremely tight security" at Johnson Space Center, Hartfield said.

A NASA spokesperson told CNN that all employees have been told to go home for the day.

Space Center Intermediate School, less than a mile south, has been locked down, said Karen Permetti, spokeswoman for Clear Creek Independent School District.

She said the school lets out at 4 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) and parents have been asked not to come to the school to pick up their children.

The school has about 1,100 students, she said.
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Yup, security is "extremely tight".
 
It is not that bad. JSC is surrounded by a huge fence with limited access. I count six news helicopters going around and around over the building. Earlier two F-15s did a flyby.
 
If you shot a round off in space, I guess it would just keep going until it left the galaxy or something got in the way...
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That little 1000-4000 fps isn't going to change your profile very much. If you were in orbit around Earth, the bullet would end up in orbit as well. If you were above escape velocity for the Earth, the bullet would be as well. But it would then be captured by the gravity of the sun. You would have to be in DEEP interstellar space before you wouldn't have to worry about various gravitational fields.

Gregg
 
NASA is a very high stress environment. Many people drink because of it, and many are depressed. I was. I worked for United Space Alliance (a main NASA contractor), right up the road from JSC, and have worked on JSC grounds numerous times. (I quit after the Columbia crash - it was just too much for me.)

Once you get cleared, as the shooter was, no one questions you. Why should they? The gov. crawls up your butt with a flashlight and looks around, believe you me. If there is ANY dirt, they know it. The astronauts are treated like celebrities there, and many foreign and local dignitaries often visit, so security is tight. (I had higher security clearances than some FBI agents on that base - but I worked with the astronauts daily in the Crew Escape Program)

But the shooter had clearance as he worked for a contractor on-site. Once the guards see your parking pass and badge, you usually get waved through, but you are only cleared for the buildings that your job needs you to be in, plus the public access buildings like the cafeteria. They were doing spot searches after 9/11, but that stopped. I bet there will be metal detectors to get on base now.
 
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