10-13-06
"Partners for Stennis" Visit Michoud for Economic Summit

On October 12 Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) hosted the Partners for Stennis Two-State Economic Summit to explore the future of Michoud and its impact on the Stennis region as well as to explore a relationshiop between the two NASA facilities.

The John C. Stennis Space Center is located in Mississippi, approximately 40 miles from MAF.

"Partners for Stennis" (http://www.partnersforstennis.org) is a volunteer group of representatives from chambers of commerce, economic development foundations, businesses, educational institutions, local governments, community groups, and individual citizens who desire to help the John C. Stennis Space Center. Their mission is to promote the economic, technical, and academic growth and stability of the John C. Stennis Space Center through projects which insure that government decision makers, business interests, and interested citizens know of the value and importance of the Center.

Attendees visited NCAM's manufacturing area where parts of the Orion Crew Vehicle will be fabricated. The Orion capsule will succeed the space shuttle as NASA's primary vehicle for human space exploration.

Image left: Bruce Brailsford, NCAM Executive Director, explains the role of NCAM to participants of the summit.

Image right: An Orion Crew Vehicle in lunar orbit. Image credit: Lockheed Martin Corp.

Eighty-three Stennis partners attended the summit, some visiting Michoud for the first time.

Special guests who addressed the visitors included Patrick Scheuermann, NASA's Chief Operating Officer, Michoud; Don Pierson, Director of Business Development, Louisiana Department of Economic Development; Thomas Cremins, NASA Chief of Staff for Exploration Systems; and Sheila Cloud, Business Integration Executive, Marshall Space Flight Center.