NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Michoud Assembly Facility's Hurricane Gustav Rideout Crew Honored with Director's Commendation Award

Stephen Turner receives the Director’s Commendation from Marshall Center Director David King for his service as Hurricane Gustav rideout crew team lead. Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham

Marshall Center Director David King has awarded Director’s Commendations to members of the Hurricane Gustav rideout crew at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans for their outstanding effort in the planning and implementation of emergency operations and for putting their lives in danger to protect the facility. Managed by the Marshall Center, Michoud is one of the world’s largest manufacturing plants.

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Michoud Assembly Facility Escapes Wrath of Gustav

Water rose dockside, which is outside the levee at Michoud, as Hurricane Gustav passed over Sept. 1. Image Credit: NASA

NASA's Michoud Assembly in New Orleans experienced sustained winds of 50-60 mph, with gusts of up to 89 mph, when Hurricane Gustav passed to the west of New Orleans Sept. 1. There were no injuries. Based on initial assessments, there was no damage to flight hardware or support equipment. Some facilities had minimal damage caused by wind and water intrusion.

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Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans is a world-class manufacturing facility providing vital support to NASA exploration and discovery missions. Michoud's capabilities include the manufacture and assembly of critical hardware components for the space shuttle and exploration vehicles under development at Marshall and other NASA field centers. Michoud is a NASA-owned facility managed by Marshall Space Flight Center.

Michoud is unique in that it contains one of the largest production buildings in the nation, which includes a vertical assembly building for stacking external tank components for the space shuttle program. Michoud supports several major projects for NASA’s Constellation Program, which is developing America’s next generation of space transportation vehicles. Michoud’s highly skilled workforce will manufacture and assemble the upper stage of the Ares I rocket, the core stage and Earth departure stage of the Ares V cargo rocket, and the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and will conduct final systems integration and checkout of Ares I avionics systems.

Helping to Rebuild New Orleans

Marshall Space Flight Center is also helping rebuild the New Orleans economy with employment opportunities at Michoud Assembly Facility, partnering with the State of Louisiana and the University of New Orleans, in support of the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing. Marshall works to develop new opportunities for Michoud’s manufacturing, testing and laboratory capabilities, and its underused green space and real property.

Requesting Utilization of Michoud: http://mafbusiness.msfc.nasa.gov/