06/19/2025
Long before NASA's Space Launch System rocket rolled onto the launchpad and blasted off into space, specialized aluminum products rolled out of Constellium's Ravenswood, West Virginia facility to be integrated into various components of the spacecraft that protect astronauts on their journey to space and support NASA's scientific mission. If you watched the Artemis 1 launch in 2022, you watched materials made by skilled workers in West Virginia launch into deep space, circle the moon, and safely return to Earth, paving the way for future manned missions to the moon and to Mars.
Constellium recently welcomed NASA officials to Ravenswood to see their aluminum manufacturing process firsthand. Among the delegation was astronaut Douglas H. "Wheels" Wheelock, who thanked Constellium workers for their craftsmanship and attention to detail that gets astronauts to space — and more importantly, brings them home safely.
"We're all just ordinary kids from ordinary places, but we have a chance to touch the extraordinary," Wheelock said.
Watch to learn more about this out-of-this-world partnership 🚀
(Video by Appalachian Visuals)