NASA launches Houston into orbit: The political, economic, and social impact of the Space Agency on southeast Texas, 1961--1969

n the Cold War atmosphere of the late twentieth century, NASA and Houston came together to produce a remarkable story. This dissertation focuses on the American space agency between 1961 and 1969 in an effort to examine how NASA had a transformative effect on southeast Texas. A number of scholars have written about the space flights that occurred during late twentieth century, but few works explore the economic, political, and social impact of America's space program on a regional level. The purpose of this study is to describe how NASA affected southeast Texas's population, academic institutions, race relations, residential communities, political attitudes, and economy during the late twentieth century.;Following the space agency's decision to locate the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, the federal installation created unprecedented opportunities for growth and development in southeast Texas. During the 1960s, NASA added to Houston's growing population as nearly fifteen thousand MSC personnel relocated to Houston. The influx of these highly paid workers benefited the area's future progress by purchasing goods and stimulating residential development projects near the laboratory. The NASA Center also caused aerospace companies to open liaison offices in southeast Texas. These new spaceoriented firms not only created new jobs and diversified Houston's economy, but they also reduced the region's economic dependence on the oil and petrochemical industries. The space agency also supported Texas's economic progress by awarding contracts totaling...