Investment in Alabamians paves the way to deep space
Updated Dec 11, 2020;
By Tory Bruno | United Launch Alliance
Alabama has always played a pivotal role in the success of America’s aerospace industry. Over 100 years ago the Wright Brothers opened the nation’s very first flight school on the outskirts of Montgomery County. This land now houses the Maxwell Air Force Base. Since the dawn of aviation, a passion for discovery combined with technical expertise has kept Alabama at the forefront of securing America’s leadership in space.
Huntsville was dubbed “Rocket City” in 1950, and since then we have taken on exciting new challenges in space. The 1960s showed rapid development in human spaceflight. Alabama’s workforce supported the Mercury program, which put the first Americans in space, quickly followed by the Gemini program, which tested a human’s ability to function in space. Then, in 1967, the Saturn V rocket – developed and built at the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville – launched its first test flight, putting the very first man on the moon just two years later as part of the Apollo program.