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