Michoud reduces job losses

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Three dozen workers were laid off Wednesday at the Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans, fewer than the 200 expected in the first round of employment reductions as the space shuttle program winds down. Cuts in the Lockheed Martin workforce had been expected as the contract to build shuttle external fuel tanks end. All of the tanks needed to fly the shuttle before its 2010 retirement are already in production. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 10/09/08)