Michoud Assembly Facility

• 1. Origins And Wartime Production

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  Andrew Jackson Higgins directed the construction of a massive industrial complex in 1940 at the village of Michoud, Louisiana. The project cost $180 million and was built on behalf of the United States government for World War II production. Higgins Industries manufactured plywood C-76 cargo planes and Higgins Boat landing craft within these walls. Production of the C-76 never commenced and instead produced two Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft in 1943. Remaining orders were cancelled in 1944 after the war effort shifted priorities. The facility served as Michoud Airfield during the 1940s before becoming inactive by 1952.

• 2. Saturn Rocket Assembly Era

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  Chrysler Corporation utilized the remaining manufacturing infrastructure during the Korean War to produce engines for Sherman and Patton tanks. Wernher von Braun selected this site as Marshall Space Flight Center's primary manufacturing facility due to Chrysler's assets. NASA took management of MSFC Michoud Operations in 1961 and renamed it Michoud Assembly Facility in 1965. From September 1961 through December 1972, the factory built first stages of Saturn I and Saturn IB rockets. Boeing Corporation later joined to build the first stage of Saturn V rockets. A ceiling height limitation of 12 meters ruled out construction of the larger Saturn C-8 vehicle there. This physical constraint became a major reason why the smaller Saturn V was chosen over the originally planned Moon vehicle.

• 3. Space Shuttle External Tank Program

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  The majority of the NASA factory history focused on constructing Space Shuttle external fuel tanks from 1973 to 2010. Martin Marietta Corporation produced these tanks beginning with rollout ET-1 on the 29th of June 1979. That tank flew on mission STS-1. Thirteen total tanks were produced throughout the Space Shuttle program ending with flight-ready tank ET-122. Tank ET-122 ended up being the last even though its sequence number was lower than the total number of tanks produced. It had been damaged during Hurricane Katrina and required repairs prior to completion. A single tank named ET-94 remained at Michoud as a test article without ever flying in space. Modular parts for the International Space Station were fabricated at the facility until 2010.

• 4. Hurricane Katrina Survival Efforts

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  Thirty-eight NASA and Lockheed Martin employees stayed behind during Hurricane Katrina to operate pumping systems. They pumped more than one billion gallons of water out of the facility to prevent destruction. These workers likely ensured that the rocket factory suffered very little damage despite surrounding neighborhoods flooding extensively. The roof of the main manufacturing building was breached and debris damaged ET-122 stored inside. All shifts were initially canceled up to the 26th of September 2005 potentially setting back future Shuttle flights. Each employee who stayed received the NASA Exceptional Bravery Medal which is NASA's highest bravery award. Repairs progressed faster than anticipated allowing operations to resume by the 31st of October 2005.

• 5. Modern SLS And Artemis Construction

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  The factory now fabricates major components of the Space Launch System core stage and Orion spacecraft pressure vessel. Boeing constructs the SLS core and future second stage while Lockheed Martin builds the crew module. The first launch occurred on the 16th of November 2022 after delays from a tornado in February 2017. This rocket carries four to six astronauts and has 50% more volume than the Apollo command capsule. It ranks third in history of spaceflight after the N1 and SpaceX Starship. An EF3 tornado carved a path through Orleans Parish damaging two major buildings including the main manufacturing structure. Five people were injured during this event contributing to the delay until late 2022.

• 6. Infrastructure And Facility Layout

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  The facility consists of various buildings within one complex covering 43 environmentally controlled acres under one roof. Building number 103 stretches 512 by 340 meters containing over 40 sub-areas for different manufacturing operations. Polished concrete internal roads run the whole length of the factory building for vehicle and crane access. A series of electric arc furnaces and casting equipment sit near the South Vertical Assembly Building. The shipping port is located 600 meters southwest where Pegasus Barges dock for transport to Kennedy Space Center. Saturn Boulevard runs past large open fields to the pier where components move for final destinations. The National Finance Center was demolished in 2019 after being badly damaged by a tornado in 2017.