NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East is celebrating its one-year anniversary of the Artemis 1 launch.
The facility contributed to bringing both the moon and later the Mars mission into fruition.
On Thursday, Nov. 16, NASA astronauts, who will one day go into space on an Artemis mission, thanked the Boeing Space Launch System Program workers who built the Artemis rockets.
Vice President of Boeing Space Launch System Program David Dutcher said, “I would say we are at the heart of being able to produce the main vehicle that is going to bring humans to the moon and beyond.”
NASA will use the rocket to send the first woman and the first black astronaut to the moon as part of Artemis II, which is set to launch in late 2024.
NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman said, “I think we are a little crazy, maybe brave, but overall crazy.”
But what’s not crazy is how these astronauts heading to the moon feel towards the engineers at Michoud.
“It is the scale of your hearts and souls. It is the scale of your hard work and dedication and I thank you for that,” said NASA astronaut Christina Koch.
“Using your gifts and talents and energy to do something that is uplifting is not just great for the country but for people from around the world,” said Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Boeing will continue its mission to lift up future engineers and astronauts by donating $100,000 to the Greater New Orleans Inc. Foundation.
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