NASA celebrates Artemis milestone in New Orleans as astronauts and engineers prepare for historic moon mission

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - NASA administrators and astronauts head to New Orleans East to celebrate an important milestone as they prepare to send humans back to the moon about a year from now.

The Artemis 2 rocket is now in its final stages of assembly.

These are exciting times at America’s rocket factory as they continue assembling the massive Artemis 2 rocket. As they prepare for next year’s moon mission, some of the astronauts who will be on board are celebrating the successful launch of Artemis 1 exactly one year ago.

“Congrats on Artemis one! y’all kick butt,” said Artemis 2 astronaut Christina Koch.

It was a rare opportunity for the astronauts who will fly Artemis 2 next year to visit the factory and see where the biggest rocket ship ever built is being assembled.

Nearly 3500 people work at the Michoud assembly facility, welding together the massive fuel tanks and building out the Orion space capsule, which is scheduled to launch four astronauts into space in a year. Three of those astronauts came to Michoud to let those workers know how much they appreciate the jobs they do.

“Your work inspires me. I’m proud of this program, and you bring your gifts to the world, lifting of people around the world,” said Artemis astronaut Jeremy Hansen from Canada.

NASA officials say Artemis one, which circled the moon and returned safely to Earth. Unmanned was a smashing success, and they say the template has been set for more Artemis missions to come.

These preliminary Artemis missions are critical as NASA tests new systems that could ultimately send humans to Mars, and New Orleanians will play a vital role. That Mars trip is still years away, with the target launch date in the 2030s.

Boeing, one of the leading contractors at Michoud, presented GNO INC a one hundred thousand dollar check to boost science and technology education in the region.

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