TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

NASA Contracts Fuel New Orleans Recovery

ADVERTISEMENT

By ALAN SAYRE, The Associated Press

Published: December 25, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - The route to the moon and perhaps to Mars now goes through New Orleans. And the detour couldn't come at a better time in the city's struggle to rebuild its shattered economy after Hurricane Katrina.

With thousands of houses still in ruins and its population reduced by almost 170,000, a boost is on the way for New Orleans in the form of high-wage jobs and contracts for next-generation space systems at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility.

Before the storm, New Orleans' economy thrived on low-wage tourism. Now the $156 million payroll at Michoud - some salaries are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars - generates paychecks significantly above the city's median annual income of about $27,000.

Michoud, in the city's eastern section, had a cloudy future before the storm struck in August 2005: The space shuttle fuel tanks it used to turn out won't be needed after the shuttle program ends in 2010, and there was no sure replacement for one of the region's largest payrolls.

The outlook is brighter now that three contracts associated with NASA's Constellation program have landed this year and last at Michoud. James Bray, director of Lockheed Martin's Orion project at Michoud, called the facility "a sleeping giant" for the city's economy.

"It's been a jewel that a lot of people pass on the interstate and don't really realize is here," Bray said. "But if you look at the population of New Orleans and Slidell and along the Gulf Coast, you find very technical, qualified people that come into here and make the space program go."

Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin will build the Orion crew module at the 43-acre plant. Chicago-based Boeing Co. will build the $1.13 billion upper stage of the Ares I launch rocket and the rocket's $799.5 million navigation and control system there.

With 2,400 workers, Michoud is an economic force in a section of the city that was hit hard by Katrina and has been slow to recover.

"For New Orleans east, it's one of the big players. If you look around at who has the number of jobs, and the number of high-paying jobs, you're not going to find much in New Orleans east that's even going to come close," Louisiana State University economist Loren Scott said.

"This type of facility that uses high-wage, high-skill jobs tends to create other types of jobs."

At the height of the shuttle program before the 1986 Challenger disaster, the facility employed about 5,000. It's unclear what the employment level will be once the shuttle program ends.

About 200 employees have joined Lockheed's Orion program, and the payroll is expected to number 500 within two years. Boeing has said it expects several hundred workers to be at Michoud for its contracts.

The first test flight of Orion will occur in 2014, and astronauts could return to the moon by late 2019 or 2020 with possible later missions to Mars, NASA says.

Space may not be the only frontier for Michoud, which built cargo planes during World War II and tank engines during the Korean War - as well as the Saturn rockets for the Apollo and Skylab space programs.

The National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, an 8-year-old partnership of NASA and the state of Louisiana, has developed new welding and fabrication techniques at Michoud for lightweight composite materials.

"If you look at the aerospace industry in general, they're booked to capacity," Bray said. "Having the equipment here and available in Louisiana, it makes sense to put more work into this location, which will bring in more jobs."
MICHOUD ASSEMBLY FACILITY
A 43-acre plant on 832 acres in eastern New Orleans, Michoud includes a deep-water port for ships to load large structures. Tenants include the Coast Guard, National Finance Center and the University of New Orleans National Biodynamics Laboratory.

Manufacturing history

•Opened 1943

•World War II: Plywood cargo planes

•Korean War: Tank engines

•1960s and 1970s: Saturn first-stage boosters for Apollo lunar missions and the Skylab program

•1970s to 2010: External fuel tanks for space shuttle program
•Future: Lockheed Martin Corp. will build the Orion crew vehicle. Boeing Co. will build navigation system, upper stage of Ares I rocket.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT