Editing Michoud Assembly Facility (section)

{{short description|NASA rocket manufacturing complex in Michoud, New Orleans}}
{{Infobox factory
| name                 = Michoud Assembly Facility
| image                = Composite image of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility.jpg
| alt                  = 
| caption              = Top to bottom, left to right: Aerial view of MAF in January 2020, the factory floor, [[Artemis 1]] liquid oxygen tank in the South Vertical Assembly Building, and the entrance to the lobby and administration offices.
| location_map         = USA Louisiana#USA
| location_map_size    = 
| location_map_caption = Location in Louisiana 
| location_map_alt     = 
| coordinates          = {{coord|30.025000|-89.915000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| built                = 1940
| operated             = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}-<br />{{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}-->
| location             = New Orleans East
| industry             = Aerospace
| products             = Rockets stages and parts
| employees            = 4,200
| architect            = [[Andrew Higgins]]<ref>[[Higgins Industries]]</ref>
| style                =
| buildings            = 4
| area                 = {{convert|832|acre|ha|abbr=on}}
| volume               =
| address              =
| owner                = NASA
| defunct              = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
|website={{URL|https://nasa.gov/michoud-assembly-facility/}}}}
The '''Michoud Assembly Facility''' ('''MAF''') is an {{convert|832|acre|ha|0|abbr=off|adj=on}} industrial complex for the manufacture and [[assembly line|structural assembly]] of aerospace vehicles and components. It is owned by [[NASA]] and located in [[Eastern New Orleans|New Orleans East]], a section of [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], in the United States. Organizationally it is part of NASA's [[Marshall Space Flight Center]], and is currently a multi-tenant complex<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jacobstechnology.com |title=Jacobs Technology |publisher=Jacobs Technology |access-date=2018-01-11}}</ref> to allow commercial and government contractors, as well as government agencies, to use the site.

MAF is one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world with 43 [[HVAC|environmentally controlled]] acres&mdash;{{convert|174000|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}&mdash;under one roof, and it employs more than 4,200 people.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/pdf/172203main_MAF_tenant_FS.pdf |title=NASA.gov |access-date=2017-06-17 |archive-date=2021-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123125243/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/pdf/172203main_MAF_tenant_FS.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> From September 1961 to the end of the Apollo program in December 1972 the site was utilized by [[Chrysler|Chrysler Corporation]] to build the first stages of the [[Saturn (rocket family)|Saturn I and Saturn IB]], later joined by [[Boeing|Boeing Corporation]] to build the first stage of the [[Saturn V]] rockets.<ref>{{cite web | title = Fly Chrysler to the Moon: the Saturn Rockets | author = Curtis Redgap | url = http://www.allpar.com/history/military/moon.html  | publisher = Allpar.com | access-date = 2014-05-14}}</ref> From September 5, 1973, to September 20, 2010, the factory was used for the construction of the [[Space Shuttle]]'s [[Space Shuttle external tank|external fuel tanks]] by [[Martin Marietta|Martin Marietta Corporation]].<ref name="etend">{{cite news|last=Dean|first=James|title=Michoud Declares End Of External Tank Production|url=http://space.flatoday.net/2010/09/michoud-declares-end-of-external-tank.html|publisher=[[Florida Today]]|access-date=30 September 2010|archive-date=10 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010155528/http://space.flatoday.net/2010/09/michoud-declares-end-of-external-tank.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>