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NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is an 832-acre (3 square kilometer) site operated by the space agency near New Orleans, Louisiana. Considered to be part of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama, the MAF supports government agencies, contractors as well as commercial organizations. Comprised of 43 acres (174,000 square meters) under one roof, the massive facility is environmentally-controlled which was established during World War II. Starting in September 1961, the facility was used by the Chrysler Corporation to build the first stages of the Saturn I and Saturn IB rocket. They were later joined by Boeing Corp to build the first stage of the massive Saturn V Moon rockets. It was later used to produce the large, orange External Tanks that were used during the Space Shuttle Program. After the end of the shuttle era in 2011, the facility was repurposed to produce the core booster of NASA’s super heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket. Photos courtesy: Jason Rhian, Scott Johnson
