NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Workers at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans got a visit from someone important: NASA’s boss.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman toured the facility with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., on Thursday (May 7).
“Very familiar with the history of Michoud, going back to landing crafts from World War II, contributing to the Saturn rocket program during the Apollo era, certainly the space shuttle. And here we are today with SLS, where Michoud once again contributed to history with Artemis II, where just recently we sent our American astronauts farther into space,” Isaacman said.
They spoke with workers at the facility before holding a news conference.
“And we talked about what the commitment is to continue keeping Michoud engaged in NASA’s future. We’ve got a bright future at NASA,” Scalise told reporters.
Isaacman said more missions to space are coming.
“This is just the opening act. Artemis III is coming up. We just rolled out core stage three for Artemis III a few weeks ago,” Isaacman said.
They stood before a huge component for Artemis V, a barrel for a liquid hydrogen tank.
“So just as Michoud took us from the landing craft to the Apollo era, to the space shuttle era, to SLS, I have no doubt, and I shared this with the workforce earlier, there is going to come a day when these big doors open and we roll out space hardware, and it’s going to look like a nuclear-powered spaceship, and that’s going to be the capability someday that’s going to take astronauts to Mars on the journey ahead,” Isaacman said.
Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois was also part of the tour.
“Obviously, NASA has the primary function here, but there are private sector companies that are, in fact, hiring here. And there’s continual growth happening right here at Michoud,” Bourgeois said.
Louisiana is trying to incentivize aerospace companies to set up operations in the state, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
“So what we’re doing with the Legislature right now is purely making sure that our public policy matches our ability to attract the growth that is happening in this sector, both through NASA, primarily, obviously, but with private companies as well who are investing in this space,” Bourgeois said.
Bourgeois was asked whether she had spoken directly to Musk.
“We’re having conversations with space companies all the time to come to Louisiana, and we’re excited about those conversations,” she said.
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