SLS 15RS-415 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 28
BY SENATOR CROWE AND REPRESENTATIVE GAROFALO
COMMENDATIONS. Commends NASA on its significant accomplishments, both
technical and scientific, and the Michoud Assembly Facility for its contributions to these
advances which have positively impacted both the nation and the state of Louisiana.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on its significant
3 accomplishments, both technical and scientific, and the Michoud Assembly Facility
4 for its contributions to these advances which have positively impacted both the
5 nation and the state of Louisiana.
6 WHEREAS, NASA and the state of Louisiana share a commitment to promote the
7 growth of a well-trained aerospace workforce and sustaining world class manufacturing
8 capabilities, such as those at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where work is
9 under way on elements of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), including the heavy-lift
10 vehicle that will usher in a new era of exploration and discovery beyond earth orbit, and the
11 Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle; and
12 WHEREAS, Michoud contributed the primary structure, or the "hull", of the vehicle
13 in addition to carbon fiber components of the Launch Abort System, the Service Module,
14 and the Orion capsule for last December's successful SLS exploration test flight 1 and is the
15 current construction site of flight hardware for the upcoming SLS Exploration Mission 1;
16 and
17 WHEREAS, Michoud is also home to the recently completed, state-of-the-art one
18 hundred seventy foot tall, seventy-eight foot wide Vertical Assembly Center, the largest
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1 spacecraft welding tool in the world that will be utilized to build the SLS core stages; and
2 WHEREAS, NASA and the Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE) share in
3 common the goal of fostering aerospace-related, interdisciplinary, science, technology, and
4 engineering research and education at Louisiana schools, colleges, and universities in an
5 effort to promote careers in Louisiana in these areas of scientific endeavor; and
6 WHEREAS, in 2012, NASA and the state of Louisiana signed a five-year extension
7 of an agreement, an investment worth sixty-two million dollars, to continue supporting the
8 National Center for Advanced Manufacturing which is located at Michoud and provides
9 research and advanced manufacturing technology for use in aerospace and commercial
10 markets; and
11 WHEREAS, NASA's Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business
12 Technology Transfer (SIBR/STTR) program stimulates technological innovation by
13 encouraging small, high-tech companies, particularly those that are minority and
14 disadvantaged businesses, to partner with NASA to help meet its research and development
15 needs in key technology areas, investing to date nearly six hundred thousand dollars in five
16 Louisiana companies; and
17 WHEREAS, NASA Spinoffs, a technology transfer program, has benefitted
18 Louisiana in the areas of decontamination of polluted soil and groundwater, providing
19 forecasting models for storm surge predictions, weather models, and fishing hot spots,
20 enabling the remote transfer of high-speed digital data, and lowering costs and reducing
21 manufacturing time for the prosthetic industry; and
22 WHEREAS, NASA created the Gulf of Mexico Initiative (GOMI) to enhance the
23 region's ability to recover from the devastating hurricanes of 2005, including Katrina and
24 Rita, and to plan for a sustainable and prosperous future through the use of NASA Earth
25 science observations and research, including the Earth Observing System and the Earth
26 Observatory which, among many other tasks, tracks the loss of Louisiana's coastline and the
27 growth of two Atchafalaya deltas; and
28 WHEREAS, since 2008, NASA had invested nineteen million dollars through
29 Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) to assist Louisiana's citizens
30 throughout the region to better understand the environment and make informed decisions;
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1 and
2 WHEREAS, the citizens of the state of Louisiana are indeed exceedingly proud of
3 their state's role in the American space program and the tremendous advances in space
4 exploration and scientific progress that cooperation with NASA has yielded.
5 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
6 commend the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on its significant
7 accomplishments, both technical and scientific, and the Michoud Assembly Facility for its
8 contributions to these advances which have positively impacted both the nation and the state
9 of Louisiana.
10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
11 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director, Patrick Scheuermann.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SCR 28 Original 2015 Regular Session Crowe
Commends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on its significant
accomplishments, both technical and scientific, and the Michoud Assembly Facility for its
contributions to these advances which have positively impacted both the nation and the state
of Louisiana.
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