Michoud Assembly Facility, a NASA complex located in New Orleans East, manufactured approximately 90% of the rocket that traveled around the moon last week with the Artemis II mission.
While the rocket launched out of Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mission holds special meaning for the teams of New Orleanians who worked to construct the rocket’s orange core stage.
The orange core stage is the structural foundation of the rocket that carries the fuel for takeoff. Its construction was completed in 2024.
Michoud Assembly Facility received the nickname “America’s Rocket Factory” for its contributions to NASA missions since it was acquired by NASA in 1961. This assembly facility employs thousands of workers and brings millions of dollars into the region’s economy, according to NASA.
New Orleans workers are responsible for much of the safety and success of the historic Artemis II mission, the first trip to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December of 1972.
A part of New Orleans has now traveled farther from Earth than ever before in human history, as the Artemis II mission broke the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.