This GE plant makes highly complex jet aircraft engines like the GEnX used in the Boeing 787 and the GE90 on the 777.

FORBES: GE Keeps Manufacturing Jobs In US -- For Highly Skilled

Scientists will eventually find widespread evidence of simple, microbial life, they theorized, but complex animal or plant life will prove extremely rare.

FORBES: We've Got Company

From the Northrop Grumman plant in Baltimore to the Lockheed Martin complex in New Jersey to the General Dynamics shipyard in Connecticut, Pentagon demand is an engine of prosperity.

FORBES: Road From D.C. To Cape Cod Reveals Reach Of Defense Industry