For more than 60 years, NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans East has been “America’s rocket factory,” the nation’s premiere site for manufacturing and assembly of large-scale space systems. The facility is one of the largest in the world, with 43 acres of manufacturing space under one roof, about 31 football fields. Every single manned space flight in American history – including the Apollo mission to the moon in the 1960s, and the Space Shuttle after that – was partially built in New Orleans at Michoud.
Today, Michoud is manufacturing and assembling the largest rocket stage in human history: the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage—the world’s most powerful rocket, which will send the Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies on exploration missions to the Moon and then Mars. Significantly, NASA’s Artemis III mission, currently planned for 2025, will mark the first time a woman and a person of color land on the moon. The mission will also mark the first time humans return to the moon in more than 50 years, and the first time humans explore the region near the lunar South Pole.
Ochsner and Team Gleason have announced an exciting relationship to enhance healthcare, research, technology, and other resources for those living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurological disorders.
The new Team Gleason Assistive Technology Lab will be built in the recently announced Debra H. and Robert J. Patrick Neuroscience Center, a world-class destination care center for neurologic diseases.
This lab is specifically designed to replicate at-home living spaces, to help patients facing ALS and other conditions learn how to use cutting-edge equipment and technology for increased independence, mobility, communication, and safety.
Further, the Team Gleason Foundation will relocate its office to Benson Tower, allowing the team to work alongside Ochsner Ventures, innovationOchsner (iO), and the Ochsner Connected Health teams. The Benson Tower location, located in BioDistrict New Orleans, allows for Team Gleason to continue to expand its resources to meet the growing need for their specialized care services in the heart of the New Orlean’s BioDistrict, a growing hub for biomedical job growth and investments.