Just ONE Kennedy Space Center employee testing positive for COVID-19 requires a massive and pricey operation to sanitize every inch of the complex.
According to federal docs, obtained by TMZ ... just under $191k in taxpayer dough is being paid to several companies contracted to sterilize the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
One firm, LL & JP, received a total of $145,367 for cleaning "up to CDC standards for suspected or cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019" at Stennis ... which is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility.
According to the docs, the money came in 2 rounds -- first on March 18 for $80,986 and then again March 27 for $64,381. The second round came after 3 Stennis employees tested positive for the virus earlier this week.
Meanwhile, over at the legendary Kennedy Space Center, a firm called Brevard Achievement Center received $45,258 for janitorial services. The money was earmarked "for unanticipated precautionary coronavirus related tasks."
That's feds-speak for ... we had to scrub down real good after an employee recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Bottom line: There's no good place to contract coronavirus, but it's super expensive when it happens at NASA.