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NASA's Michoud facility sends off major piece of rocket hardware

The intertank will be positioned between the rocket's two huge fuel tanks and connects the solid rocket boosters to the core.

NEW ORLEANS -- NASA Michoud Facility employees are one step closer to helping astronauts explore more about space.

Thursday, employees loaded up a structural version of the SLS intertank built at the facility. The intertank will be loaded onto a NASA barge then shipped to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The intertank will be positioned between the rocket's two huge fuel tanks and connects the solid rocket boosters to the core. It also houses many of the avionics computers and electronics that control the rocket in flight.

Officials said the Michoud facility has a legacy of creating important rocket parts, including equipment used in the Apollo moon program in the 1960's.

NASA's Michoud facility also employs about 3,000 people, officials said.

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