Michoud highlights opening of NOLA techfest

New Orleans’ Michoud Assembly Facility will complete construction in 2016 of a 200-foot-tall liquid hydrogen and oxygen tank more than a year ahead of NASA’s scheduled heavy-lift Space Launch System rockets an unmanned test mission into deep space. The new rocket replaces the space shuttle program. Boeing’s production director, speaking on the opening day of the inaugural New Orelanss TechNOLAgy TechFest 2013, also says the Michoud facility will have more than 400 personnel - twice its current size – by 2017. The 3-day science and technology conference is being held at the University of New Orleans and features panels and workshops on alternative energy, aerospace and aviation technology, artificial intelligence and other science specialties. Source: The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, Aug. 22, 2013. (Gulf Coast: After completion, the core stage will be shipped to Stennis (Miss.) Space Center for a test launch. An unmanned test flight into pace will follow in late 2017.)