SLS 16RS-2175 ORIGINAL
2016 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 92
BY SENATOR HEWITT AND REPRESENTATIVE GAROFALO
LEGIS POWERS/FUNCTIONS. Designates Thursday, May 5, 2016, as "NASA Day" at
the state capitol and commends NASA and the Michoud Assembly Facility on the significant
technical and scientific accomplishments made by them which have positively impacted the
United States and the state of Louisiana.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To designate Thursday, May 5, 2016, as "NASA Day" at the state capitol and commends the
3 National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) and the Michoud Assembly
4 Facility on the significant technical and scientific accomplishments made by them
5 which have positively impacted both the United States and the state of Louisiana.
6 WHEREAS, NASA and the state of Louisiana share a commitment to promoting the
7 growth of a well-trained aerospace workforce and to sustaining world-class manufacturing
8 capabilities, such as those at Michoud Assembly Facility at New Orleans, where work is
9 underway on NASA's Space Launch System, including the heavy-lift vehicle that will usher
10 in a new era of exploration and discovery beyond earth's orbit, in addition to the work on the
11 Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle; and
12 WHEREAS, Michoud Assembly Facility at New Orleans is the home of the 170-foot
13 tall, 78-foot wide Vertical Assembly Center, the largest spacecraft welding tool in the world
14 that is utilized to build the Space Launch System core stages; the facility contributed the
15 primary structure or hull of the Orion capsule, along with carbon fiber components of the
16 Launch Abort System, Service Module for the successful Exploration Flight Test in
17 December of 2014, and the facility is the current construction site of flight hardware for the
18 upcoming Exploration Mission 1 which is planned for 2018; and
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SLS 16RS-2175 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, NASA and the Louisiana Space Consortium, LaSPACE, share the
2 common goal of fostering aerospace related, interdisciplinary science, technology, and
3 engineering research and education at Louisiana schools, colleges, and universities in an
4 effort to promote STEM education and jobs in the aerospace industry within Louisiana; and
5 WHEREAS, NASA and the state of Louisiana, in 2012, signed a five-year extension
6 on a $62 million agreement to continue supporting the National Center for Advanced
7 Manufacturing, which is located at Michoud and provides research and advanced
8 manufacturing technology for use in aerospace and commercial markets; and
9 WHEREAS, NASA's Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business
10 Technology Transfer program stimulates technological innovation by encouraging small,
11 high-tech companies, particularly minority and disadvantaged businesses, to partner with
12 NASA to help meet its research and development needs in key technological areas and has
13 invested $1.8 million in nine Louisiana companies; and
14 WHEREAS, NASA spinoffs have benefitted Louisiana by facilitating the
15 decontamination of polluted soil and groundwater, providing forecasting models for storm
16 surge, weather, and fishing hotspots, enabling the remote, high-speed transfer of digital data,
17 and lowering costs and reducing manufacturing time for the prosthetics industry; and
18 WHEREAS, NASA created the Gulf of Mexico Initiative to enhance the region's
19 ability to recover from the devastating hurricanes of 2005 and to plan for a sustainable and
20 prosperous future through the use of NASA Earth Science observations and research; NASA
21 has invested $19 million through Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences to
22 assist Louisiana's citizens throughout the region to better understand the environment and
23 make informed decisions; and
24 WHEREAS, the citizens of the state of Louisiana are exceedingly proud of their
25 state's critical role in the American space program and of the tremendous advances in space
26 exploration and scientific progress its cooperation with NASA has produced.
27 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
28 designate Thursday, May 5, 2016, as "NASA Day" at the state capitol and does hereby
29 commend NASA and the Michoud Assembly Facility for their remarkable scientific and
30 technological contributions to the state of Louisiana and the United States of America.
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SLS 16RS-2175 ORIGINAL
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
2 administrator of NASA.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Nancy Vicknair.
DIGEST
SCR 92 Original 2016 Regular Session Hewitt
Designates Thursday, May 5, 2016, as "NASA Day" at the state capitol and commends
NASA and the Michoud Assembly Facility on the significant technical and scientific
accomplishments made by them which have positively impacted both the United States and
the state of La.
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