NASA shuts down in wake of attacks

By Miles O'Brien
CNN Space Correspondent

(CNN) -- NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin ordered all centers of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to close in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the United States.

The order affected NASA field centers as well as agency headquarters in Washington.

EXTRA INFORMATION Complete coverage from CNN.com: America Under Attack

At the Kennedy Space Center, technicians were told to "safe" the four space shuttles. All non-essential personnel were sent home with only security officers remaining to patrol the center, sources told CNN.

The space shuttles Discovery, Columbia and Endeavour are in their hangars. Atlantis is in the massive Vehicle Assembly Building.

Each orbiter is valued at $2 billion.

Other NASA centers affected: Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Johnson Space Center in Houston.