Bea. Hello and welcome to the Space Policy Edition of Planetary Radio,

the monthly show where we explore the politics

and the processes behind space exploration.

I'm Casey Dreyer, the chief of Space Policy here at the Planetary Society.

When Alan Shepard and John Glenn undertook NASA's earliest crude flights in the early 1960s. Spaceflight was generally a mid-Atlantic

endeavor in the United States. Although Sheppard and Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral down in Florida, their training had

taken place at facilities spread across Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Mission Control at the time of the earliest mercury flights was in Maryland.

But in the wake of Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, and the vast expansion of NASA's budget that followed.

Nearly every state in the union

vied to become home to the agency's core facilities to ensure the success of Apollo.

But due to a mix of political clout and geographic opportunity,

all of these subsequent facilities were established in the American South.

This intro is adapted from a forward in the fascinating new collection,

NASA and the American South, a book co-edited

by NASA's chief historian Brian Audum.

He joins us today to discuss this relationship that NASA has with the South, how the South has influenced

NASA as an organization, and really the broad historical and political context for this massive government investment

that has led some to call NASA's presence there a second reconstruction at the time of Apollo.

Before we get to that, I want to mention that the Planetary Society,

my organization, is an independent member-supported nonprofit.

This show and all the other work that we do happens because of those who become members and donate to our efforts.

If you're not a member, please consider joining us at planetary.org

...