NASA’s mission to go back to the moon and then to Mars and beyond flies through New Orleans.
Monday, the space agency’s top officer made his first official visit to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East.
That’s where workers are building the spacecraft and rockets for the next generation of manned space flight.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine got a warm welcome. He called New Orleans’ contribution to the space program “crucial.”
From the early days of space travel, this is where the agency built the rockets that it used to launch astronauts into space.
Bridenstine stood in front of a giant liquid hydrogen tank that will make up the largest portion of the core stage of the new space launch system – the most powerful rocket yet – designed to propel NASA to the moon, mars and beyond.
“I want to make sure I’m really clear about how grateful we are to not only the workers, but their families for all they do for this critical piece of infrastructure for the United States of America,” said Bridenstine.
The NASA administrator said there are now 5,000 direct jobs in the New Orleans and Gulf Coast region as a result of the work now underway at Michoud.
Workers are also building the Orion capsule that will sit on top of the Giant SLS rocket.
NASA recently shifted from design and testing to actual production, which could mean additional jobs for Michoud over the next decade.
“We want to achieve a flight rate of one exploration mission per year and to do that we have to turn the ship and focus on production activities,” said Keith Heffner, the Michoud director.
Astronauts Nicole Mann and Stan Love are part of the crew that will be in a capsule that is now being built at Michoud when it launches sometime in the next 4 years.
“Someday very soon, we’ll have astronauts sitting in this pressure vessel, right here, on top of SLS and we when we launch on Pad 39B, I tell you, it’s going to be a proud moment for all of human-kind,” said Mann.
Orion production manager Scott Wilson, who remembers the space shuttle days at Michoud, is happy to see activity again at NASA’s rocket factory.
“It was great today to walk through the door and see the lights on and see people scurrying everywhere,” said Wilson. “Building rockets and space ships. It doesn’t get any better than that, unless you’ve got seat in the space ship.”
After Monday’s briefing, it appears that New Orleans will remain a vital part of the nation’s space program for years to come.
Paul Murphy can be reached at pmurphy@wwltv.com.