NASA suspends work on Moon rocket due to virus
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The space agency is shutting down its Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where the Space Launch System rocket is being built, and the nearby Stennis Space Center, administrator Jim Bridenstine said late yesterday.
"The change at Stennis was made due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the community around the center, the number of self isolation cases within our workforce there, and one confirmed case among our Stennis team," he said.
"NASA will temporarily suspend production and testing of Space Launch System and Orion hardware. The NASA and contractors teams will complete an orderly shutdown that puts all hardware in a safe condition until work can resume." ■