Most high-tech manufacturers like to be told their product is out of this world. In the case of Latrobe Specialty Steel, it’s literally true.
The firm supplies high-strength steel used in the solid-fuel boosters that help power the U.S. space shuttle. On August 11, it hosted a visit by astronaut Mike Finke, a western Pennsylvania native. Fincke, an Air Force colonel, has been assigned to the crew of a space shuttle mission in mid-2010.
Latrobe Specialty Steel is the sole supplier of the particular product used by NASA, said Daniel Hennessy, vice president of manufacturing for the specialty steelmaker. He said Finke met with “about 80” of the 525 workers currently employed at the Latrobe facility.
“He was here to talk with the people who work here,” said Hennessy. “He learned our process. It was a way to connect what we make to the people who rely on that as they go into space.”
Latrobe has supplied steel for the next generation of the space transportation system, which is expected to replace the shuttle system. Hennessy said a prototype of the ARES I will be test-fired at the end of the summer.
Source: Dan Hennessy
Writer: Chris O’Toole