Space History Photo: Horsepower and Rocketpower

News
By
published
space history, horsepower, Michoud Assembly Facility
A lot changed in 50 short years. (Image credit: NASA.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, fifty years of history and 31,999,99 horsepower mark the difference in these two pictures taken at the front of Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The top image shows a 1915 horse and buggy passing in the front of the old Michoud Plantation. The bottom image is a 32 million horsepower Saturn I booster passing over the same road. The brick chimneys, the remnants of the Antoine Michoud Plantation built in the mid-1800s, still remain as in 1915. Michoud Assembly Facility built the stages of Saturn I, Saturn IB and Saturn V vehicles under the management of Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

NASA Archives
NASA Archives
U.S. Space Agency

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes,  satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. It's astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, of visit: nasa.gov.