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NASA and the American South

Online ISBN:
9781683404200
Print ISBN:
9781683404019
Publisher:
University Press of Florida
Book

NASA and the American South

Brian C. Odom (ed.),
Brian C. Odom
(ed.)

chief historian

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
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Stephen P. Waring (ed.)
Stephen P. Waring
(ed.)

professor of history

University of Alabama in Huntsville
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Published online:
19 September 2024
Published in print:
16 January 2024
Online ISBN:
9781683404200
Print ISBN:
9781683404019
Publisher:
University Press of Florida

Abstract

Federal spending for the space program during the Cold War transformed the southern United States. Beyond the initial investment, the presence of those vast, federally funded technology development centers continues to exert a major influence on Southern society and politics. With so many of its centers situated in the American South, southern politics and society have also profoundly impacted the organizational culture of NASA, causing it to “speak with a southern accent.” As Loyd S. Swenson Jr. argued in his 1968 essay on the topic, the South deserved much of the credit for developing the technology for the Apollo program during the Space Race. However, many also hoped that the “reaction engines for space” might compel the region to “leave behind reactionary thought.” The essays in this volume examine the economic, social, and political impact NASA has had on the South over the past 60 years and explores how that Southern ‘accent’ has affected NASA’s organizational culture, technology development, and programmatic goals. Included are overarching frameworks, assessments of Cold War politics, aerospace tourism in the region, and investigations of the influence of aerospace on regional art and architecture, antecedent technologies, and black institutions of higher education.

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