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Michoud Assembly Facility

Michoud Assembly Facility

The Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is an 832 acre (3.4 km²) site owned by NASA and located in New Orleans East, Louisiana. It is used for the construction of the Space Shuttle's External tanks by its lead contractor Lockheed Martin. It is one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world with 43 acres (174,000 m²) under one roof and employs approximately 2000 people. The facility was originally constructed in 1940 by the United States government for the war production during World War II to make plywood cargo planes and landing craft. During the Korean War it made engines for Sherman and Patton tanks. Patton It came under the management of the NASA in 1961 and was used for the construction of the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V rocket and the S-IB first stage of the Saturn IB rocket. It is home to the first stage of the last constructed Saturn V, SA-515. The facility was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, with all shifts initially cancelled up to September 26, 2005, potentially setting back further Shuttle flights. All the buildings and the shuttle hardware within survived the hurricane without grave damage, but the roof of the main building was breached and debris damaged one of the fuel tanks stored inside. On September 16, 2005 NASA announced that the repairs were progressing faster than anticipated, and so they will continue to use Michoud for external tank work.

Reference


- - September 16, 2005 NASA press release stating that they plan to resume work at the facility, despite damaged cause by Hurricane Katrina. [http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/sep/HQ_05268_Resume_Work_Michoud.html ]

External links


- [http://www.lockheedmartin.com/michoud/ Michoud Operations]
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/facility/michoud.htm GlobalSecurity.org]
- [http://www.thespacereview.com/article/447/1 Status report after the hurricane] Category:NASA facilities Category:New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans

:For information on the events of Hurricane Katrina, see effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. New Orleans (local pronunciations: , , or ) (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans, pronounced Image:ltspkr.png in standard French accent) is a major U.S. port city and historically the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in southeastern Louisiana along the Mississippi River, just south of Lake Pontchartrain, and is coextensive with Orleans Parish.

Overview

The city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent civil engineering failure which resulted in massive flooding in August 2005. As of mid December 2005, efforts continue to aid survivors, clean up debris, and restore infrastructure. While most of the city has reopened to residents and areas which suffered moderate damage have substantially resumed functioning, other parts of town most severely damaged such as some neighborhoods of the 9th Ward are open only during daylight hours for residents to salvage items from their formerly flooded homes. New Orleans is a Southern city known for its multicultural heritage (especially French, Spanish and African American influences) and its music and cuisine. It is a world-famous tourist destination thanks to its many festivals and celebrations; the most notable annual events are Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"), Jazz Fest,Voodoo Fest, Southern Decadence, and college football's Sugar Bowl. The most recent U.S. census put New Orleans's population at 484,674 and the population of Greater New Orleans at 1,337,726. Due to the evacuation of the city before and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the population as of late 2005 is significantly less; a Time Magazine article with a publication date of 28 November 2005 (written weeks before) estimated the city's population at about 100,000. But now that the city's population is trickling back in to see if they will be able to repair their homes or move someplace else. The population, as of December 12th, is estimated at about 140,000 New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and has played an important role in the history of the United States. The city was named in honor of Philip II, Duke of Orléans, who was regent and ruler of France when the city was founded. This is comparable to the naming of New York City in honor of James, Duke of York, heir to the throne of England. It is a major port city due to its location near the Gulf of Mexico and along the Mississippi River, making it a hub for goods which travel to and from Latin America. The petroleum industry is also of great importance to the New Orleans economy; many oil rigs are located in the Gulf. The Port of South Louisiana (which includes the port of N.O.) is based in the New Orleans metropolitan area and is the fourth largest port in the world in terms of raw tonnage, and among the largest U.S. ports for several major commodities, including cement and coffee. The city's several nicknames describe various characteristics of the city, including the "Crescent City" (describing its shape around the Mississippi River), "The Big Easy" (a reference by musicians to the relative ease of finding work in the city), and "The City that Care Forgot" (associated with the easy going, carefree nature of many of the local residents). The city's unofficial motto, "Laissez les bons temps rouler" ("Let the good times roll") describes the party-like attitude of many residents. The city's name is often abbreviated NOLA. Residents of the city are referred to as New Orleanians.

History

Main article: History of New Orleans

Colonial era

History of New Orleans The place was first discovered by Spanish conqueror Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1518 along with the Mississippi River, which was named "Espiritu Santo" river. New Orleans was founded in 1718 by the French as La Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The site was selected because it was a rare bit of natural high ground along the flood-prone banks of the lower Mississippi, and was adjacent to a Native American trading route and portage between the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain via Bayou St. John (known to natives as Bayou Choupique). A community of French fur trappers and traders had existed along the bayou (in what is now the middle of New Orleans) for at least a decade before the official founding of the city. Nouvelle-Orléans became the capital of French Louisiana in 1722, replacing Biloxi. In 1763, the colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire and remained under Spanish control for 40 years. The Great Fire of 1788 destroyed many of the existing structures in the city (800 houses were destroyed), which were made of wood. As a result of this, and a subsequent fire in 1795 (another 200 houses destroyed), much of 18th century architecture still present in the French Quarter was built under Spanish rule and demonstrates Spanish colonial characteristics, wood was replaced with bricks. The three most impressive buildings of New Orleans come from the Spanish times: St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytere. In 1795, Spain granted the United States "Right of Deposit" in New Orleans, allowing Americans to use the city's port facilities. Louisiana reverted to French control in 1801 after Napoleon re-acquired the territory from Spain by treaty. But in 1803, Napoleon sold Louisiana (which then included portions of more than a dozen present-day states) to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. At this time the city of New Orleans had a population of about 10,000.

19th century

In its early days it was noted for its cosmopolitan polyglot population and mixture of cultures. The city grew rapidly, with influxes of Americans, French and Creole French, many of the latter fleeing from the revolution in Haiti. During the War of 1812 the British sent a force to try to conquer the city, but they were defeated by forces led by Andrew Jackson some miles down river from the city at Chalmette, Louisiana on January 8, 1815 (commonly known as the Battle of New Orleans). Battle of New Orleans The population of the city doubled in the 1830s, and by 1840 the city's population was around 102,000, fourth-largest in the U.S, the largest city away from the Atlantic seaboard, as well as the largest in the South after Baltimore. However, population growth was at times plagued by yellow fever epidemics, such as the great scourge of 1853 that killed nearly 10,000 people in New Orleans. New Orleans was the capital of the state of Louisiana until 1849, then again from 1865 to 1880. As a principal port it had a leading role in the slave trade, while at the same time having North America's largest community of free persons of color. Early in the American Civil War it was captured by the Union (by David Farragut -son of Spanish emigrants- later named the first US Navy Vice-Admiral) without a battle, and hence was spared the destruction suffered by many other cities of the American South. It was the first captured city in the American South. It retains a historical flavor with a wealth of 19th century structures far beyond the early colonial city boundaries of the French Quarter. The city hosted the 1884 World's Fair, called the World Cotton Centennial. An important attraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the famous red light district called Storyville.

20th century

Storyville Storyville Storyville Much of the city is located below sea level between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, so the city is surrounded by levees. Until the early 20th century, construction was largely limited to the slightly higher ground along old natural river levees and bayous, since much of the rest of the land was swampy and subject to frequent flooding. This gave the 19th century city the shape of a crescent along a bend of the Mississippi, the origin of the nickname The Crescent City. In the 1910s engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood enacted his ambitious plan to drain the city, including large pumps of his own design which are still used. All rain water must be pumped up to the canals which drain into Lake Pontchartrain. Wood's pumps and drainage allowed the city to expand greatly in area. However, pumping of groundwater from underneath the city has resulted in subsidence. The subsidence greatly increased the flood risk, should the levees be breached or precipitation be in excess of pumping capacity (as was the case in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina). There were many warnings in the late 20th century that a major hurricane or a Mississippi flood could create a lake in the central city as much as 9 m (30 ft) deep, which could take months to pump dry.This warning was augmented by vestigial fears from Hurricane Betsy, and the lasting stories of the Army Corps of Engineers blasting the flooding levees, drowning the poorer neighborhoods of the lower ninth Ward. The Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, (HCNA) respresenting a substantial group of the aforementioned lower ninth ward, created a lobby against the Army Corps of Engineers furthering work on the levees which might endanger the neighborhoods. The HCNA sent Jamal Morelli, activist and New Orleans artist, to respresent them in Washington, D.C. Jamal Morelli's struggle for the neighborhood was successful in protecting the lower ninth ward. (2000-2004) In 1905 Yellow Fever was reported in the city, which had suffered under repeated epidemics of the disease in the previous century. As the role of mosquitos in spreading the disease was newly understood, the city embarked on a massive campain to drain, screen, or oil all cisterns and standing water (breeding ground for mosquitos) in the city and educate the public on their vital role in preventing mosquitos. The effort was a success and the disease was stopped before reaching epidemic proportions. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the city to demonstrate the safety of New Orleans. The city has had no cases of Yellow Fever since. New Orleans was hit by major storms in the 1909 Atlantic hurricane season and the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season. In the 1920s an effort to "modernize" the look of the city removed the old cast-iron balconies from Canal Street, the city's commercial hub. In the 1960s another "modernization" effort replaced the Canal Streetcar Line with buses. Both of these moves came to be regarded as mistakes long after the fact, and the streetcars returned to a portion of Canal Street at the end of the 1990s, and construction to restore the entire line was completed in April 2004. The suburbs saw great growth in the second half of the 20th century; the largest suburb today is Metairie, which borders New Orleans to the west. Metairie is not incorporated and is a part of Jefferson Parish. Much of the city flooded in September of 1947 due to the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane. In 1965 the city was damaged by Hurricane Betsy, with catastrophic flooding of the city's Lower 9th Ward. While long one of the USA's most-visited cities, tourism boomed in the last quarter of the 20th century, becoming a major force in the local economy. Areas of the French Quarter and Central Business District which were long oriented towards local residential and business uses switched to largely catering to the domestic and international tourist industry. A century after the Cotton Centennial Exhibition, New Orleans hosted another World's Fair, the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. The city experienced severe flooding in the May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood when heavy rains suddenly dumped over a foot of water on parts of town faster than the pumps could remove the water.

21st Century (Hurricane Katrina)

May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood :Main article: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans The city suffered from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, 2005 on the gulf coast near the city. Mayor Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation of the entire city, the first such order ever issued in New Orleans. Many residents chose to stay or were stranded in the city by a lack of available transportation. The eye of the storm passed within 10 to 15 miles of New Orleans, bringing strong winds that downed trees, shattered windows, and hurled debris around the area. Heavy rains and flooding immediately affected the eastern areas of the city. The situation worsened on August 30 when levees along three canals which drain into were breached. These canals were the 17th Street Canal, the Industrial Canal, and the London Avenue Canal. As much as 80% of the city, much of which is below sea level, flooded, with water reaching a depth of 25 feet (7.6 meters) in some areas. As of November 2005, The Times Picayune article states that there are in addition to those 1,050 confirmed deaths 5,000 missing residents of the city. Early estimates of the cost of physical damage from the storm have exceeded 100 billion USD. Subsequent investigations showed that the levee failures which flooded the majority of the city were the result of what has been called "the largest civil engineering disaster in the history of the United States" [http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1133336859287360.xml] The city government declared the city off-limits to residents while clean-up efforts began and warned that those remaining could be removed by force, for their health and safety. On September 15, several of the suburban towns started allowing residents to return. The mayor announced a "phased repopulation" plan to start bringing residents of the city back in the next two weeks. Concern about the fragility of the city's flood defences and transportation caused repopulation efforts to be postponed due to Hurricane Rita. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/15/katrina.impact/index.html]. New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward was reflooded when a storm surge from Rita overcame one of the repaired levees on the Industrial Canal [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5300327,00.html]. By October 1, parts of the city accounting for about one-third of the population of New Orleans had been reopened, including the French Quarter.[http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/01/katrina.recovery.ap/index.html] As of October 1, only 5% of the city remained underwater.

Geography and climate

October 1 New Orleans is located at (29.964722, -90.070556) on the banks of the Mississippi River, approximately 100 miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico at 30.07°N, 89.93°W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 907.0 km² (350.2 mi²). 467.6 km² (180.6 mi²) of it is land and 439.4 km² (169.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 48.45% water. The city is located in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, between the Mississippi River in the south and Lake Pontchartrain in the north. The area along the river is characterized by ridges and hollows. Fields atop the ridges along the river are referred to as the "frontlands." The land contour slopes away from the frontlands to the "backlands", comprised of clay and silt. The Mississippi Delta, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, covers about 13,000 square miles (about 1/4 of Louisiana) and consists of silt deposited by the river, and is the most fertile area of Louisiana. The city of New Orleans actually contains the lowest point in the state of Louisiana, and one of the lowest points in the United States, after Death Valley and the Salton Sea. Much of the city is actually located between 1 and 10 feet (0.3 to 3 m) below sea level, and as such, is very prone to flooding. Some 45% of the city is above sea level; these higher areas were developed before 1900; the lowest areas only being developed more recently. Rainwater is continually pumped out of the city and into Lake Pontchartrain across a series of canals lined by levees and dikes. Before the 20th century pumping system, if it rains more than 1 inch, or more recently if there is a major storm surge, such as that caused by a hurricane, greater flooding can occur. Because of the city's high water table most of the cemeteries in the city use above ground crypts as opposed to underground burial. The New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 39th largest in the United States, includes the Louisiana parishes of Orleans (contiguous with the city of New Orleans), Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany.

Cityscape

St. Tammany The Central Business District of New Orleans is located immediately north and west of the Mississippi River, and is historically called the "American Quarter." Most streets in this area fan out from a central point in the city. Major streets of the area include Canal Street and Poydras St. The term "downtown" refers to those parts of town that are downriver from the central business district. "Uptown" refers to those parts of town that are upriver from the central business district. Parts of the city that are located downtown include the world famous French Quarter (most noted as the central tourist district, with its array of shops, bars, and nightclubs along Bourbon Street), Storyville (now defunct), Treme, Faubourg Marigny, Bywater, the 7th Ward, and the Lower 9th Ward. Parts of the city that are located uptown include the Garden District, the Irish Channel, the University District, Carrollton, Gert Town, Fontainebleau, and Broadmoor. Other major districts within the city include Bayou St. John, Mid City, Gentilly, Lakeview, Lakefront, New Orleans East, The upper 9th Ward and Algiers. Parishes located adjacent to the city of New Orleans include St. Tammany Parish to the northeast, St. Bernard Parish to the south, Plaquemines Parish to the southwest, and Jefferson Parish to the west. Jefferson Parish

Climate

The climate of New Orleans is subtropical, with mild winters and hot, humid summers. In January, morning lows average around 43 °F (6°C), and daily highs around 62°F (17°C). In July, lows average 74°F (23°C), and highs average 91°F (33°C). The lowest recorded temperature was 11.0°F (-11.6°C) on December 23, 1989. The highest recorded temperature was 102.0°F (38.9°C) on August 22, 1980. The average precipitation is 59.74 inches (1520 mm) annually. On rare occasions, snow will fall. Most recently, a trace of snow fell on Christmas in 2004, during the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm. On December 25, a combination of rain, sleet, and snow fell on the city, leaving some bridges icy. Before that, the last white Christmas was in 1954, and brought 4.5 inches (110 mm). The last significant snowfall in New Orleans fell on December 22, 1989, when most of the city received 1 or 2 inches of snow.

People and culture

Demographics

:Note: Though many of those evacuated from New Orleans from circumstances relating to Hurricane Katrina have yet to return, the evacuees remain residents of the city. While medium-to-long term changes in population may be drastic, there is no way, short of speculation, to account for these effects. The U. S. Census figures presented here are the most recent; and verifiable. As of the census of 2000, there were 484,674 people, 188,251 households, and 112,950 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,036.4/km² (2,684.3/mi²). There were 215,091 housing units at an average density of 459.9/km² (1,191.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.25% African American, 28.05% White, 0.20% Native American, 2.26% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 3.06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The population of Greater New Orleans stood at 1,337,726 in 2000, placing it 35 amongst United States metropolitan areas. These population statistics are based on legal residents of the city. But due to the enourmous annual tourist flow, the amount of people inside the city at a given time, such as Mardi Gras season, tends to exceed these numbers sometimes by the hundreds of thousands. There were 188,251 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.8% were married couples living together, 24.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.23. In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,133, and the median income for a family was $32,338. Males had a median income of $30,862 versus $23,768 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,258. 27.9% of the population and 23.7% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 40.3% of those under the age of 18 and 19.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. New Orleans is well known for its Creole culture and the persistence of Voodoo practice by a few of its residents, as well as for its music, food, architecture, and spirit of celebration.

Pronunciation

New Orleans is usually pronounced by locals as "Noo Or-lins," or "Noo Aw-lins." The pronunciation "N'Awlins" is not generally used by locals but has been popularized by the tourist trade. The distinctive local accent, sometimes identified as Yat, is unlike either Cajun or the stereotypical Southern accent so often misportrayed by film and television actors. It does, like earlier Southern Englishes, feature frequent deletion of post-vocalic "r". It is similar to a New York "Brooklynese" accent to people unfamiliar with it. There are many theories to how the accent came to be, but it likely results from New Orleans' geographic isolation by water, and the fact that New Orleans was a major port of entry into the United States throughout the 19th century. Many of the immigrant groups who reside in Brooklyn also reside in New Orleans, with Irish, Italians, and Germans being among the largest groups. The prestige associated with being from New Orleans by many residents is likely a factor in the linguistic assimilation of the ethnically divergent population. This distinctive accent is dying out generation by generation in the city (but remains very strong in the surrounding Parishes). As with many sociolinguistic artifacts, it is usually attested much more strongly by older members of the population. Also notable are lexical items specific to the city, such as "lagniappe" (pronounced LAN-yap) meaning "a little something extra," "makin' groceries" for grocery shopping, or "neutral ground" for a street median.

Media

The major daily newspaper is the New Orleans Times-Picayune, publishing since 1837. Other alternative weekly publications include the [http://www.louisianaweekly.com/ Louisiana Weekly] and the [http://www.bestofneworleans.com/ Gambit Weekly]. Greater New Orleans is well served by television and radio. The market is the 43rd largest Designated Market Area (DMA) in the U.S., serving 672,150 homes and 0.610% of the U.S. Major television network affiliates serving the area include WWL 4 (CBS), WGNO 26 (ABC), WDSU 6 (NBC), WVUE 8 (FOX), WNOL 38 (WB), WUPL 54 (UPN), and WPXL 49 (PAX). PBS stations include WYES 12 and WLAE 32. WHNO 20 also operates as an independent station in the area.

Museums and other attractions

WHNO Greater New Orleans has many major attractions, from the world-renowned Bourbon Street and the French Quarter's notorious nightlife, St. Charles Avenue (home of Tulane and Loyola Universities), and many stately 19th century mansions. Favorite tourist scenes in New Orleans include the French Quarter (known locally as "the Quarter"), which dates from the French and Spanish eras and is bounded by the Mississippi River and Rampart Street, Canal Street and Esplanade Ave. The French Quarter contains many popular hotels, bars, and nightclubs, most notably around Bourbon Street. Other notable tourist attractions in the quarter include Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the French Market (including the Café du Monde, famous for café au lait and beignets), and Preservation Hall. Also located near the French Quarter is the old New Orleans Mint, formerly a branch of the United States Mint, now operates as a museum. The National D-Day Museum is a relatively new museum (opened on June 6, 2000) dedicated to providing information and materials related to the allied invasion of Normandy, France. The Natchez is an authentic steamboat with a calliope tours the Mississippi twice daily. Art museums in the city include the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The Audubon Park and the Audubon Zoo are also located in the city of New Orleans. New Orleans is also noted for its many beautiful cemeteries. Some notable cemeteries in the city include Saint Louis Cemetery and Metairie Cemetery. The city is also world-famous for its food. Specialties include beignets, square-shaped fried pastries that are sometimes called French doughnuts (served with coffee and chicory "au lait"); Po'boy and Italian Muffaletta sandwiches; Gulf oysters on the half-shell and other seafoods; etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo, and other Creole dishes; and the Monday evening favorite of red beans and rice. (Louis Armstrong often signed his letters, "red beans and ricely yours.") Significant gardens include Longue Vue House and Gardens and the New Orleans Botanical Garden.

Annual cultural events and fairs

See also: New Orleans Mardi Gras New Orleans Mardi Gras Greater New Orleans is home to numerous year-around celebrations, including Mardi Gras, New Year's Eve celebrations, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. New Orleans' most famous celebration is its Carnival Season. The Carnival season is often known (especially by out-of-towners) by the name of the last and biggest day, Mardi Gras (literally, "Fat Tuesday"), held just before the beginning of the Catholic liturgical season of Lent. Mardi Gras celebrations include parades and floats; participants toss strings of cheap colorful beads and doubloons to the crowds. The Mardi Gras season is kicked off with the only parade allowed through the French Quarter (Vieux Carré, translated Old Square), a walking parade aptly named Krewe du Vieux. The largest of the city's many musical festivals is the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Commonly referred to simply as, "Jazz Fest", it is one of the largest music festivals in the nation, and features crowds coming from all over the world to experience music, food, arts, and crafts. Despite the name, it features not only jazz but a large variety of music, including both native Louisiana music and nationally-known popular music artists.

Music

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.]] New Orleans has always been a significant center for music with its intertwined European, Latin American, and African-American cultures. The city engendered jazz with its brass bands. Decades later it was home to a distinctive brand of rhythm and blues that contributed greatly to the growth of rock and roll. Its general atmosphere of Dionysian art has also resulted in chaotic artists such as Crash Worship, Liquiddrone, and Jamal Morelli. In addition, the nearby countryside is the home of Cajun music, Zydeco music, and Delta blues. The city also created its own spin on the old tradition of military brass band funerals; traditional New Orleans funerals with music feature sad music (mostly dirges and hymns) on the way to the cemetery and happy music (hot jazz) on the way back. Such traditional musical funerals still take place when a local musician, a member of a club, krewe, or benevolent society, or a noted dignitary has passed. Until the 1990s most locals preferred to call these "funerals with music," but out of town visitors have long dubbed them "jazz funerals." Younger bands, especially those based in the Treme neighborhood, have embraced the term and now have funerals featuring only jazz music.

Sports

Treme The city is the home to several professional, major league sports teams, including the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League and the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association (moved from Charlotte, North Carolina at the start of the 2002–2003 season). The Saints play in the Louisiana Superdome, and the Hornets play in the adjacent New Orleans Arena. Due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, including damage both to the exterior and the interior of the Louisiana Superdome, the New Orleans Saints will have to play their "home" games in Baton Rouge and San Antonio, Texas. The football season began just a week after the storm hit, and the Saints played their first "home" game against the Giants at Giants Stadium. After that, they traveled to San Antonio to play in the Alamodome for their "home" game against Buffalo. Next the Saints will remain in San Antonio to play their opponent Atlanta. For the October 30 game the Saints will travel to Baton Rouge, where they will play in LSU's Tiger Stadium. The Saints will play the next three "home" games in Baton Rouge. The final game of the Saints' season will be played in San Antonio. All in all the Saints will play a total of three "home" games in San Antonio, and four "home" games in Baton Rouge. The Hornets will play 35 "home" games at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City,Oklahoma, with the remaining 6 to be played in Baton Rouge or, if possible, in New Orleans. The city also has an Arena Football League team, the New Orleans VooDoo, owned by the Saints' owner, Tom Benson. The New Orleans Zephyrs, AAA minor league baseball team plays in adjacent Metairie. They are currently affiliated with the Washington Nationals. The city also hosts two college football bowl games annually: the New Orleans Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Historically, many teams have been formerly located in the city, including the New Orleans Pelicans baseball team (1887–1959), the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League, the New Orleans Night of the Arena Football League (1991–1992), and the New Orleans Brass ice hockey team (1997–2003). Former basketball teams were the New Orleans Buccaneers (c. 1967–1970), and the New Orleans Jazz (1974–1980) which became the Utah Jazz.

Economy

Utah Jazz New Orleans is an industrial and distribution center, and a major U.S. seaport. It is one of the busiest seaports in not only the United States, but also the world. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal in the mid 20th century to accommodate New Orleans' barge traffic. Like Houston, New Orleans is located in proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and the many oil rigs lying just offshore. There are a substantial number of energy companies that have their regional headquarters in the city, including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Oil Company. The city is also home to one Fortune 500 company, Entergy Corporation, an electric power provider. The federal government has a significant presence in the area. The NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is located in the eastern portion of Orleans Parish. Lockheed-Martin also has a large manufacturing facility located in the Greater New Orleans area that produces external fuel tanks for space shuttles. Other companies with a significant presence or base in New Orleans include BellSouth, Hibernia Corp., IBM, Navtech, Harrah's (downtown casino), Popeye's Fried Chicken, and Zatarain's. The Port of New Orleans handles about 145 million short tons (132 million tonnes) of cargo a year and is the largest faction of the Port of South Louisiana, the latter being the largest and busiest shipping port in the western hemisphere and the 4th busiest in the world. About 5,000 ships from nearly 60 nations dock at the Port of New Orleans annually. The chief exports are grain and other foods from the Midwestern United States and petroleum products. The leading imports include chemicals, cocoa beans, coffee, and petroleum. The port handles more trade with Latin America than does any other U.S. gateway, including Miami. New Orleans is also a busy port for barges. The barges use the nation's two main inland waterways, the Mississippi River and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which meet at New Orleans. The port of New Orleans handles about 50,000 barges yearly. There are also two ferries that cross the river near the Garden district and the French Quarter. These ferries are free of charge to pedestrians, but motorists pay a $1 fee to cross on them. New Orleans is also one of the most visited cities in the United States, and tourism is a major staple in the area's economy. The city's colorful Carnival celebrations during the pre-Lenten season, centered on the French Quarter, draw particularly large crowds. Other major tourist events and attractions in the city include Mardi Gras, the Sugar Bowl, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Southern Decadence (one of the largest annual Gay/Lesbian celebrations in the nation).

Infrastructure

Government

New Orleans has a mayor-council government. The city council consists of five councilmembers that are elected by district and two at large councilmembers. Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Jr. was elected in May 2002. The New Orleans Police Department provides professional police services to the public in order to maintain order and protect life and property. The Orleans Parish civil sheriff's employees serve (deliver) papers involving lawsuits. The Criminal Sheriff's department maintains the parish prison system. The city of New Orleans and the parish of Orleans operate as a merged city-county government. Before the city of New Orleans became co-extensive with Orleans Parish, Orleans Parish was home to numerous smaller communities. Some of these communities within Orleans Parish have historically had separate identities from the city of New Orleans, such as Irish Bayou and Carrollton. Algiers, Louisiana was a separate city through 1870. As soon as Algiers became a part of New Orleans, Orleans Parish ceased being separate from the city of New Orleans.

Schools

New Orleans Public Schools, the city's school district, is one of the area's largest school districts. NOPS contains approximately 100 individual schools. The Greater New Orleans area has approximately 200 parochial schools. Several institutions of higher education also exist within the city, including University of New Orleans, Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, Dillard University, Southern University at New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana, Louisiana State University Medical School, and Our Lady of Holy Cross College. Other schools include Delgado Community College, Nunez Community College, Culinary Institute of New Orleans, Herzing College, Commonwealth University, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Transportation

The metropolitan area is served by Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport , located approximately nine miles west of the city in the city of Kenner. It serves millions of passengers on approximately 300 nonstop flights per day to or from destinations throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The airport also handles a significant amount of charter operations from Europe. The airport also serves as a nonstop gateway to Mexico for Federal Express. Within the city itself is Lakefront Airport, a small, general aviation airport, as well as the New Orleans Downtown Heliport, located on the roof of the Louisiana Superdome's parking garage. There are also several regional airports located throughout the metropolitan area. The city is also served by rail via Amtrak. The New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal is the central rail depot, and it is served by three trains: the Crescent to New York City, the City of New Orleans to Chicago, Illinois, and the Sunset Limited from Orlando to Los Angeles. In addition, the city is served by six Class I freight railroads. The Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads approach the city from the west, the Norfolk Southern and CSX from the east, and the Canadian National and Kansas City Southern from the north. Public transportation in the city is operated by New Orleans Regional Transit Authority ("RTA"). In addition to the many bus routes connecting the city and suburban areas, there are three active streetcar lines moved by electric motors powered by DC wires overhead. The St. Charles line (green cars, formerly connecting New Orleans with the then independent suburb of Carrollton) is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in New Orleans and a historic landmark. The Riverfront line (also known as the Ladies in Red since the cars are painted red) runs parallel to the river from Canal Street through the French Quarter to the Convention Center above Julia Street in the Arts District. The Canal Street line uses the Riverfront line tracks from Esplanade Street to Canal Street, then branches off down Canal Street and ends at the cemeteries at City Park Avenue with a spur running from the intersection of Canal and Carrollton Avenue to the entrance of City Park at Esplanade near the entrance to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The city's streetcars were also featured in the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. The streetcar line to Desire Street became a bus line in 1948, but may be restored as a light rail streetcar line. The roads in the city are arranged in a radial grid pattern, emanating out to various parts of town from a central point in the Central Business District. I-10 travels east-west through the city, and goes very close to the Central Business District, taking traffic west towards Baton Rouge, Louisiana and east-northeast to Slidell, Louisiana. The "Highrise" carry I-10 across the Industrial Canal. Further east, the Interstate connects New Orleans East with Slidell across an arm of Lake Pontchartrain, known as the "Twin Spans"; these causeways were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina; by October single lanes in each direction had been reopened on the eastbound span. The westbound span is scheduled to be repaired by January 2006. The bridges are to be replaced with a new six-lane bridge in 2006. As I-10 heads south from Metairie towards the Central Business District, it is called the Pontchartrain Expressway. I-610 connects I-10 and travels through the northern central part of the city. US 90 leaves the Central Business District and goes west through the city's Uptown neighborhood and crosses the Missisisppi River at the Huey P. Long Bridge near the suburb of Jefferson. I-10 is also connected to I-12, north of Lake Pontchartrain, via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, consisting of two parallel bridges, which are also the longest in the world. The interstate highways serving New Orleans were laid out in the middle of the 20th century, a time when a larger proportion of Gulf of Mexico freight traffic passed through New Orleans. I-10 goes west to Houston and beyond and east to Mobile and Florida, with I-59 and I-55 heading northward to Birmingham and Jackson, respectively. Later, I-12 created a shortcut that avoided

Louisiana

Louisiana State Quarter (reverse)
Louisiana (pronounced or ) (French: Louisiane, pronounced Image:ltspkr.png) is a Southern state of the United States of America. It uses the U.S. postal abbreviation LA. The state is bordered to the west by the state of Texas, to the north by Arkansas, to the east by the state of Mississippi, and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico. Among the states, Louisiana has a unique culture, owing to its French colonial heritage. While the state has no declared "official language," its law recognizes both English and French. Today, English is by far the main language of everyday life, but French is spoken by nearly 5% of the population and its influence can be seen in local dialects and in many place names.

History

Louisiana was long inhabited by Native American tribes before the arrival of Europeans. The lasting mark of the Native Americans can be seen even today in the names used in Louisiana, such as Atchafalaya, Natchitouches (now spelled Natchitoches), Caddo, Houma, Tangipahoa, and Avoyel (Avoyelles Parish). What follows is a partial list, using current parish boundaries as rough approximations of locations.
- The Atakapa were found in southwestern Louisiana in the parishes of Vermilion, Cameron, Lafayette, Acadia, Jefferson Davis, and Calcasieu.
- The Chitimachas occupied the southeastern parishes of Iberia, Assumption, St Mary, Lower St. Martin, Terrebone, LaFourche, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Bo St. Charles, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines.
- The Bayougoula, part of the Choctaw nation, were found in points directly north of the Chitimachas, in the parishes of St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, East and West Baton Rouge, Livingston, and St. Tammany.
- The Houma tribe, was found in East and West Feliciana, and Pointe Coupee parishes; Ironically about 100 miles north of current location of the town named after them.
- Portions of Avoyelles and Concordia parishes along the Mississippi River were home to the Avoyel, part of the Natchez nation.
- The northeastern parishes of Tensas, Madison, and East and West Carroll were occupied by the Tunica tribe.
- The remainder of current day central and north Louisiana was home to a substantial portion of the Caddo nation. The first European explorers to visit what is now Louisiana were a 1528 Spanish expedition (led by Panfilo de Narváez) that located the mouth of the Mississippi River. Some 13 years later Hernando de Soto's expedition crossed through the region. Thereafter the region was long neglected by the Spanish authorities, and the next explorers were French. Louisiana was named by the French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle in honor of Louis XIV in 1682. The first permanent settlement, Fort Maurepas at what is now Ocean Springs, Mississippi, near Biloxi, was founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699. The French colony of Louisiana originally claimed a great region of land on both sides of the Mississippi River and north to Canada.The settlement of Natchitoches (located along the Red River in present day North West Louisiana) was established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, making it the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory. The French settlement had two purposes; to establish trade with the Spanish in Texas, and at the same time, to deter Spanish advances into Louisiana. Also the northern terminus of theOld San Antonio Road (sometimes called El Camino Real, or Kings Highway)was at Natchitoches, Louisiana. Natchitoches soon became a flourishing river port and crossroads, giving rise to vast cotton kingdoms along the river. Planters built magnificent plantations down river and built fine homes in town for social events. Most of the other settlements concentrated along the banks of the Mississippi and its major tributaries, with trading outposts and mission settlements in the Illinois Country, as far north as Peoria, Illinois and a number of settlements in the area around near present-day Saint Louis, Missouri. See also: French colonization of the Americas Initially Mobile, Alabama and Biloxi, Mississippi functioned as the capital of the colony; from 1722 on New Orleans fulfilled that role. Most of the territory to the east of the Mississippi was lost to Great Britain in the French and Indian War, except for the area around New Orleans and the parishes around Lake Pontchartrain. The rest of Louisiana became a colony of Spain by the Treaty of Fontainebleau of 1762. During the period of Spanish rule, several thousand French-speaking refugees from the region of Acadia made their way to Louisiana following British expulsion; settling largely in the southwestern bayous, they became known as the Cajuns. In 1800, France's Napoleon Bonaparte re-acquired Louisiana from Spain in the Treaty of San Ildefonso, although this was kept secret for some two years. In 1803, the United States purchased the French province of Louisiana (see Louisiana Purchase) and divided it into two territories: the Orleans Territory (which became the state of Louisiana in 1812) and the District of Louisiana (which consisted of all the land not included in Orleans Territory). The Florida Parishes were annexed from Spanish West Florida by proclamation of President James Madison in 1810. The western boundary of Louisiana with Spanish Texas remained in dispute until the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, with the Sabine Free State serving as a neutral buffer zone as well as a haven for criminals. There are still remnants of its former status as a possession of France, including: the use of a civil law legal system, based on the Louisiana Civil Code, which is similar to (and often confused with) the Napoleonic Code (like France, and unlike the rest of the United States, which uses a common law legal system derived from England), the term "parishes" being used to describe the state's sub-divisions as opposed to "counties", etc. In 1849 the capital moved from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Donaldsonville, Opelousas, and Shreveport have also briefly served as the seat of governments of Louisiana. Louisiana was a slave state. It did, however, have one of the largest free black populations in the United States. Many of the freed slaves in Louisiana in turn purchased their own slaves, which led to the state having one of the largest numbers of slave owning blacks in America, if not the largest. In the American Civil War, Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861. New Orleans was captured by Federal troops on April 25, 1862. As significant portions of the population had Union sympathies, the Federal government took the unusual step of recognizing the areas of Louisiana under Federal control as a state within the Union with elected representatives who were sent to the congress in Washington, D.C. throughout the rest of the war. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck and devastated a vast area of the state. Southeastern Louisiana was one of the hardest hit areas, and New Orleans was hit particularly hard, and didn't begin to reopen until October. Estimates are that more than two million people were displaced by the hurricane and thousands are feared dead. Widespread looting and violence was reported, especially in New Orleans. The next month, the Southwestern corner of the state was hit by Hurricane Rita. These dual disasters will cost the state tens of billions of dollars immediately, and the long term economic repercussions can only be guessed.

Law and government

The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. Its governor is Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (Democrat) and its two U.S. senators are Mary Landrieu (Democrat) and David Vitter (Republican). Louisiana has seven Members of Congress, five Republicans and two Democrats. Louisiana is the only state whose legal system is based on Roman, Spanish, and French civil law as opposed to English common law. Technically, it is known as "Civil Law," or the "Civilian System." It is often incorrectly referred to as the "Code Napoléon" or The Napoleonic Code. It is important to note that the Louisiana Civil Code and the French Civil Code, often referred to as the Napoleonic Code, came into existence at roughly the same time. Louisiana was never governed by the Napoleonic Code. Great differences still exist between Louisiana Civil Law and the Common Law found in her 49 sister states. While some of these differences have been bridged due to the strong influence of the Common Law in the United States,[http://www.kinsellalaw.com/publications/kinsella_civil-common-law-dictionary.pdf] it is important to note that the "Civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in all aspects of Louisiana law. Property, contractual, and family law are still mostly based on traditional Roman legal thinking and have little in common with English law. Louisiana is unique among U.S. states in its method for state, local, and congressional elections. All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in an open primary on Election Day. If no candidate has more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the highest vote total compete in a runoff election approximately one month later. This runoff does not take into account party identification; therefore, it is not uncommon for a Democrat to be in a runoff with a fellow Democrat or a Republican to be in a runoff with a fellow Republican. All other states use the First Past the Post electoral system to elect Senators, Representatives, and statewide officials. In 2001, Louisiana had the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 1% of the population of Louisiana imprisoned (1013 inmates per 100,000 people).

Geography

First Past the Post electoral system

Topography

The surface of the state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands, and the alluvial and coast and swamp regions. The alluvial regions, including the low swamps and coast lands, cover an area of about 20,000 square miles; they lie principally along the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 miles and ultimately emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, the Red River, the Ouachita River and its branches, and other minor streams. The breadth of the alluvial region along the Mississippi is from 10 to 60 miles, and along the other streams it averages about 10 miles. The Mississippi flows upon a ridge formed by its own deposits, from which the lands incline toward the low swamps beyond at an average fall of six feet per mile. The lands along other streams present very similar features. These alluvial lands are never inundated save when breaks occur in the levees by which they are protected against the floods of the Mississippi and its tributaries. These floods, however, do not occur annually, and they may be said to be exceptional. With the maintenance of strong levees these alluvial lands would enjoy perpetual immunity from inundation. The uplands and contiguous hill lands have an area of more than 25,000 square miles, and they consist of prairie and woodlands. The elevations above sea-level range from 10 feet at the coast and swamp lands to 50 and 60 feet at the prairie and alluvial lands. In the uplands and hills the elevations rise to Driskill Mountain the highest point in the state at only 535 feet (163 m) above sea level, located in northwest Louisiana. Besides the navigable rivers already named (some of which are called bayous), there are the Sabine, forming the western boundary, and the Pearl, the eastern boundary, the Calcasieu, the Mermentau, the Vermilion, the Teche, the Atchafalaya, the Boeuf, the Lafourche, the Courtableau, the D'Arbonne, the Macon, the Tensas, the Amite, the Tchefuncte, the Tickfaw, the Natalbany, and a number of other streams of lesser note, constituting a natural system of navigable waterways, aggregating over 4,000 miles in length, which is unequalled in the United States and probably in the world. The state also has 1,060 square miles of land-locked bays, 1,700 square miles of inland lakes, and a river surface of over 500 square miles.

Geology

The underlying strata of the state are of Cretaceous age and are covered by alluvial deposits of Tertiary and post-Tertiary origin. A large part of Louisiana is the creation and product of the Mississippi River. It was originally covered by an arm of the sea, and has been built up by the silt carried down the valley by the great river. Near the coast, there are many salt domes, where salt is mined and oil is often found. Owing to the extensive flood control measures along the Mississippi river and to natural subsidence, Louisiana is now suffering the loss of coastal land area. State and Federal government efforts to halt or reverse this phenomenon are under way; others are being sought.

Highways

Interstate highways:
- Interstate 10
- Interstate 12
- Interstate 20
- Interstate 49
- Interstate 55
- Interstate 59 There are proposed plans to extend Interstate 69 to the Texas/Mexico border, which will go through north-eastern Louisiana. Also, Interstate 49 is slated to be expanded north into Arkansas and east along Interstate 10 to New Orleans, replacing part of U.S. Highway 90. United States highways:
North-south routesEast-west routes

- U.S. Highway 11
- U.S. Highway 425
- U.S. Highway 51
- U.S. Highway 61
- U.S. Highway 65
- U.S. Highway 165
- U.S. Highway 167
- U.S. Highway 71
- U.S. Highway 171
- U.S. Highway 371
- U.S. Highway 79
- U.S. Highway 80
- U.S. Highway 84
- U.S. Highway 90
- U.S. Highway 190

Economy

The total gross state product in 2003 for Louisiana was $140 billion. Its Per Capita Personal Income was $26,312, forty-third in the nation. The state's principal agricultural outputs include seafood (It is the biggest producer of crawfish/crayfish in the world), cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy products, and rice. Its industrial outputs include chemical products, petroleum and coal products, food processing, transportation equipment, paper products, and tourism.

Demographics

As of 2003, the state's population was 4,496,334, including approximately 215,000 native French-speakers. The racial makeup of the state is:
- 62.5% White
- 32.5% Black
- 2.4% Hispanic
- 1.2% Asian
- 0.6% Native American
- 1.1% Mixed race
- 99.9% Homosexuals The five largest ancestries in the state are: African American (32.5%), French/French Canadian (16.2%), American (10.1%), German (7.1%), Irish (7%). Blacks, who long made up the majority of the state's population in slavery days, dominate much of the southeast, central, and northern parts of the state, particularly those parishes along the Mississippi river valley. But, in recent years, the percentage of whites has experienced a growth due to all of the predominantly white senior citizens that have begun to relocate there because of the friendly atmosphere, mild winters, and beautiful scenery. Creoles of French and Spanish ancestry and Cajuns of French-Canadian ancestry are dominant in much of the southern part of the state. Whites of Southern U.S. background predominate in the hillier areas of northern Louisiana. As of 2000, 91.2% of Louisiana residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 4.8% speak French. Spanish is the third most spoken language at 2.5%, followed by Vietnamese at 0.6% and German at 0.2%.

Religion

Like the other Southern states, Louisiana is mostly Protestant; however there is also a large native Catholic population in the state, particularly in the southern part of the state, which makes Louisiana unique among Southern states. The current religious affiliations of the people of Louisiana are shown in the table below:
- Christian — 90%
  - Protestant — 60%
    - Baptist — 38%
    - Methodist — 4%
    - Pentecostal — 2%
    - Other Protestant – 16%
  - Roman Catholic — 30%
  - Other Christian — 1%
- Other Religions — <1%
- Non-Religious — 10% The New Orleans area has a small but significant Jewish community.

Cities and towns

Cities with a population of over 10,000:

Ten richest places in Louisiana

Ranked by per capita income #Mound: $92,200 (population 12, as of the 2000 census) #Oak Hills Place: $34,944 #Elmwood: $34,329 #Eden Isle: $31,798 #Gilliam: $30,264 #Shenandoah: $29,722 #Westminster: $28,087 #River Ridge: $27,088 #Prien: $26,537 #Mandeville: $26,420

Education

Colleges and universities


- Centenary College of Louisiana
- Dillard University
- Louisiana College
- Louisiana State University System
  - Louisiana State University at Alexandria
  - Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, main campus)
  - Louisiana State University at Eunice
  - Louisiana State University at Shreveport
  - University of New Orleans
- Loyola University New Orleans
- Our Lady of Holy Cross College
- Our Lady of the Lake College
- Southern University System
  - Southern University (Baton Rouge, main campus)
  - Southern University New Orleans
- Tulane University
- University of Louisiana System
  - Grambling State University
  - University of Louisiana at Monroe
  - University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  - Louisiana Tech University
  - McNeese State University
  - Nicholls State University
  - Northwestern State University
  - Southeastern Louisiana University
- Xavier University of Louisiana
Bossier Parish Community College

Professional sports teams

As of 2005 Louisiana is nominally the least populous state with more than one major professional sports league franchise. However, the effects of Hurricane Katrina have forced the National Basketball Association's New Orleans Hornets to play their games in Oklahoma City for the 2005-06 season. The National Football League's New Orleans Saints are playing most of their 2005 regular season games in Baton Rouge, however the long-term future of that franchise is also uncertain.

Football

National Football League


- New Orleans Saints

Arena Football League


- New Orleans VooDoo

NWFL


- New Orleans Spice

NIFL


- Southwest Louisiana Swashbucklers (Lake Charles) - NIFL

AF2


- Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings - AF2

SAFL


- Baton Rouge Riverboat Bandits - SAFL
- Lake Charles RiverKats - SAFL
- Minden RoughRiders - SAFL
- Lafayette Bayou Bulls - SAFL
- Ruston Rage - SAFL
- Shreveport Steamers - SAFL
- Greater New Orleans Gladiators - SAFL
- Hammond Headhunters - SAFL
- Louisiana (Houma) Blazing Bulldogs - SAFL
- Central Louisiana Warriors - SAFL
- Slidell Steelsharks - SAFL

Defunct teams


- Shreveport Bombers - IPFL
- Louisiana Bayou Beast - IPFL

Baseball


- Minor League baseball teams
  - New Orleans Zephyrs
  - Shreveport Sports
  - Alexandria Aces
  - Baton Rouge River Bats
  - Houma Hawks
  - New Orleans Pelicans (1887-1959)
  - New Orleans Creoles (Negro League) (dates?)

Basketball


- National Basketball Association:
  - New Orleans Jazz (1974) team moved to Salt Lake City and became the Utah Jazz in 1979
  - The Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002 to become the New Orleans Hornets - Now known as The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (at least for 2005-06).

Hockey


- Minor League Hockey
  - Louisiana IceGators (1995 - 2005) - ECHL
  - Baton Rouge Kingfish (1996 - 2003) - ECHL
  - New Orleans Brass (1997 - 2003) - ECHL
  - Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs - CHL

Miscellaneous information


- State dog : Catahoula Leopard Dog
- State bird : Eastern Brown Pelican
- State flower : Magnolia
- State fossil : Petrified palmwood
- State tree : Bald Cypress
- State mammal : Louisiana Black Bear
- State wildflower : Louisiana Iris
- State reptile : American Alligator
- State insect: Honeybee
- State crustacean : Crawfish
- State amphibian: Green Tree Frog
- State food: Gumbo
- State songs: "You Are My Sunshine," "Every Man a King," and "Give Me Louisiana"
- [http://www.csbr.org/latartan1.htm State Tartan]
- State drink: Milk
- State instrument: Diatonic Accordian
- State freshwater fish: Sac-au-Lait
- State Gemstone: Agate
- State Soil: Ruston
- State Colors: Blue, White, Gold
- State Pledge: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the state of Louisiana and to the motto for which it stands: A state, under God, united in purpose and ideals, confident that justice shall prevail for all of those abiding here. The ancestors of Creoles generally came to Louisiana directly from France, Spain, or from the French colonies in the Caribbean and settled in New Orleans or in South Eastern Louisiana. The ancestors of the Cajuns are the Acadians, a French-descended people of what are now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada. When the British won the French and Indian War, the British forced all of the citizens to take a pledge of allegiance. Most Acadians declined and emigrated from Canada, most of them fleeing to the southwestern portion of Louisiana, centered in the region around Lafayette. There is also a distinct Spanish-descended group in Louisiana. The Islenos are direct descendants of Canary Islanders forced to migrate by the Spanish King beginning in the mid-1770s. There were intended to help guard the eastern approaches to New Orleans from invasion by the British. They settled in what is modern-day St. Bernard Parish, in the river passes east of the city, along an old mouth of the Mississippi River which they named Terre aux Boeufs (literally "Land of Cattle" for the cattle living there). Many of their descendants remained insulated from the city, and continued to speak an archaic version of Spanish well into the 20th Century. They still maintain contacts with the Canary Islands, and have an annual "Caldo" festival named for a native dish. For almost 20 years there was only one small amusement park in Louisiana, called Hamel's Amusement Park in Shreveport, which is now mostly closed. There is now a Six Flags in New Orleans East. Since Louisiana is under constant threat from hurricanes, the Louisiana State Police are sponsoring a contraflow lane reversal program in order to evacuate the New Orleans metropolitan area as quickly as possible. Louisiana's license plates include the motto "Sportsman's Paradise," which emphasizes the state's opportunities for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. The motto is often used in state tourism campaigns.

References

#Sturdevent, William C. (1967): [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/early_indian_east.jpg Early Indian Tribes, Cultures, and Linguistic Stocks], Smithsonian Institution Map (Eastern United States).
- Yiannopoulos, A.N., The Civil Codes of Louisiana (reprinted from Civil Law System: Louisiana and Comparative law, A Coursebook: Texts, Cases and Materials, 3d Edition; similar to version in preface to Louisiana Civil Code, ed. by Yiannopoulos)
- Rodolfo Batiza, The Louisiana Civil Code of 1808: Its Actual Sources and Present Relevance, 46 TUL. L. REV. 4 (1971); Rodolfo Batiza, Sources of the Civil Code of 1808, Facts and Speculation: A Rejoinder, 46 TUL. L. REV. 628 (1972); Robert A. Pascal, Sources of the Digest of 1808: A Reply to Professor Batiza, 46 TUL. L. REV. 603 (1972); Joseph M. Sweeney, Tournament of Scholars Over the Sources of the Civil Code of 1808,46 TUL. L. REV. 585 (1972).
- Kinsella, N. Stephan, [http://www.kinsellalaw.com/publications/kinsella_civil-common-law-dictionary.pdf A Civil Law to Common Law Dictionary], 54 Louisiana Law Review 1265 (1994)

See also


- Louisiana Superdome
- Avery Island

External links


- [http://www.state.la.us Official State of Louisiana website]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22000.html U.S. Census Bureau]
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/home.html History of Louisiana]
- [http://www.terragalleria.com/america/south-east/louisiana Photos of Louisiana - Terra Galleria]
- [http://www.lavoted.com Louisiana Politics & News]
- Category:States of the United States ko:루이지애나 주 ja:ルイジアナ州 simple:Louisiana

Space Shuttle external tank

The Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer and supplies them under pressure to the three space shuttle main engines (SSME) in the orbiter during lift-off and ascent. When the SSMEs are shut down, the ET is jettisoned, enters the Earth's atmosphere, breaks up, and hits the ocean somewhere far from land, usually in the Indian Ocean or Pacific Ocean away from known shipping lanes. It is not recovered. The ET is constructed by Lockheed Martin for NASA at the Michoud Assembly Facility.

Overview

Michoud Assembly Facility The ET is the largest element of the space shuttle, and when loaded, it is also the heaviest. It is 153.8 feet (47 m) long and has a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 m) and has three major components:
- the forward liquid oxygen tank
- an unpressurized intertank that contains most of the electrical components
- the aft liquid hydrogen tank; this is the largest part, but it is relatively light. The first two external tanks, used in STS-1 and STS-2, were painted white. As a weight-saving measure, Lockheed Martin ceased painting the external tanks beginning with STS-3, leaving only the clear primer over the now-trademark rust-colored insulation, saving approximately 1,000 pounds (0.5 t) of weight. Beginning with the STS-6 mission, a lightweight ET (called the LWT by NASA), was introduced. This tank was used for the majority of the Shuttle flights, and was last used on the ill-fated STS-107 flight. Since 1998, NASA started using, for International Space Station flights, a so-called "Super Lightweight Tank" (SWLT), which reduces the weight even further, using new construction techniques. Although future tanks may vary slightly, each will weigh approximately 66,000 pounds (30 t) inert. The last heavyweight tank, flown on STS-7, weighed approximately 77,000 pounds (35 t) inert. For each unit of weight reduced from the ET, the cargo-carrying capability of the space shuttle is increased almost the equivalent amount. The weight reduction was accomplished by eliminating portions of stringers (structural stiffeners running the length of the hydrogen tank), using fewer stiffener rings and by modifying major frames in the hydrogen tank. Also, significant portions of the tank are milled differently to reduce thickness, and the weight of the ET's aft solid rocket booster attachments were reduced by using a stronger, yet lighter and less expensive titanium alloy. Earlier several hundred pounds were eliminated by deleting the anti-geyser line. The line paralleled the oxygen feed line and provided a circulation path for liquid oxygen to reduce accumulation of gaseous oxygen in the feed line while the oxygen tank was being filled before launch. After propellant loading data from ground tests and the first few space shuttle missions was assessed, the anti-geyser line was removed for STS-5 and subsequent missions. The total length and diameter of the ET remain unchanged. The ET is attached to the orbiter at one forward attachment point and two aft points. In the aft attachment area, there are also umbilicals that carry fluids, gases, electrical signals and electrical power between the tank and the orbiter. Electrical signals and controls between the orbiter and the two solid rocket boosters also are routed through those umbilicals.

Components

electric

Liquid oxygen tank

The liquid oxygen tank is an aluminum monocoque structure composed of a fusion-welded assembly of preformed, chem-milled gores, panels, machined fittings and ring chords. It operates in a pressure range of 20 to 22 psig (240 to 250 kPa absolute pressure). The tank contains anti-slosh and anti-vortex provisions to minimize liquid residuals and damp fluid motion. The tank feeds into a 17 inch (430 mm) diameter feed line that conveys the liquid oxygen through the intertank, then outside the ET to the aft right-hand ET / orbiter disconnect umbilical. The 17 inch (430 mm) diameter feed line permits liquid oxygen to flow at approximately 2,787 lb/s (1264 kg/s) with the SSMEs operating at 104 % or permits a maximum flow of 17,592 gal/min (1.1099 m³/s). The liquid oxygen tank's double-wedge nose cone reduces drag and heating, contains the vehicle's ascent air data system (for nine tanks only) and serves as a lightning rod. The liquid oxygen tank's volume is 554.0 m³ (19,560 ft³). It is 27 feet 7 inches (8.41 m) in diameter, 49 feet 4 inches (15.0 m) long and weighs 12,000 pounds (5.4 t) empty.

Intertank

The intertank is a steel / aluminum semimonocoque cylindrical structure with flanges on each end for joining the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks. The intertank houses ET instrumentation components and provides an umbilical plate that interfaces with the ground facility arm for purge gas supply, hazardous gas detection and hydrogen gas boiloff during ground operations. It consists of mechanically joined skin, stringers and machined panels of aluminum alloy. The intertank is vented during flight. The intertank contains the forward SRB-ET attach thrust beam and fittings that distribute the SRB loads to the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks. The intertank is 270 inches (6.9 m) long, 331 inches (8.4 m) in diameter and weighs 12,100 pounds (5.5 t).

Liquid hydrogen tank

The liquid hydrogen tank is an aluminum semimonocoque structure of fusion-welded barrel sections, five major ring frames, and forward and aft ellipsoidal domes. Its operating pressure range is 32 to 34 psia (220 to 230 kPa absolute). The tank contains an anti-vortex baffle and siphon outlet to transmit the liquid hydrogen from the tank through a 17 inch (430 mm) line to the left aft umbilical. The liquid hydrogen feed line flow rate is 465 lb/s (211 kg/s) with the SSMEs at 104 % or a maximum flow of 47,365 US gal/min (2.988 m³/s). At the forward end of the liquid hydrogen tank is the ET / orbiter forward attachment pod strut, and at its aft end are the two ET / orbiter aft attachment ball fittings as well as the aft SRB-ET stabilizing strut attachments. The liquid hydrogen tank is 331 inches (8.4 m) in diameter, 1,160 inches (29.46 m) long, and has a volume of 53,518 ft³ (1,515.5 m³) and a dry weight of 29,000 pounds (13 t).

ET thermal protection system

The ET thermal protection system consists of sprayed-on foam insulation and premolded ablator materials. The system also includes the use of phenolic thermal insulators to preclude air liquefaction. Thermal isolators are required for liquid hydrogen tank attachments to preclude the liquefaction of air-exposed metallic attachments and to reduce heat flow into the liquid hydrogen. The thermal protection system weighs 4,823 pounds (2.2 t). The thermal protection system has been problematic, and has proven a fatal weakness to shuttle mission safety. NASA has had difficulty preventing fragments of foam from detaching during flight. Prior to 1997, the foam insulation was made using freon, a chemical known for its destructive effect on the ozone layer. Although NASA was exempted from legislation that called for a reduction in freon use, and the amount of freon used in the tank contributed minimally to total freon use, the composition of the foam was changed in response. The new foam has proven to be much more likely to peel or flake off, causing over a tenfold increase in impacts with shuttle tiles over the old foam. Additionally, ice often forms on the outside of the tank after it has been fueled, which also poses a hazard to the shuttle during flight. During the lift-off of STS-107, a piece of foam insulation detached from the tank and struck the leading edge of Space Shuttle Columbia's wing at a very high velocity. The impact destroyed several reinforced carbon-carbon thermal tiles on the leading edge of the wing, which allowed super-heated plasma to enter the wing superstructure several days later during re-entry. This resulted in the destruction of Columbia and the death of her crew. As of 2005 the problem of foam shed has not been fully cured; cameras mounted on the shuttle recorded a piece of foam blowing away from the ET on STS-114. This foam did not strike the spacecraft. While reports published concurrent with the STS-114 mission suggest that excessive handling of