No, I don't "got it." You're claiming that because the space program has sites in the South, that the South is not technologically backward. That's no different from claiming that the South is intellectually advanced precisely because it has space centers. If that were so, Guyana would a technological powerhouse because Ariane launches from there.
In reality, the mere location of a space center in the south has nothing to do with the question either way. The mere presence of buildings and wires don't tell us a thing about Southerners' technical savvy.
Remember, the sites themselves were selected either for purely technical reasons (KSC), military jurisdiction (MSFC), or political patronage (JSC). And the fact that they're there simply means that people will have to move to the South in order to work those sorts of projects; and that Southerners will have a chance to work there without moving. There was nothing explicitly "Southern" that made these the inevitable locations.
Still, let us grant your point for the sake of argument -- that the South is technologically up-to-par because it has space centers.
But if we grant your point, it's actually quite damaging to your underlying position: most of the really serious space stuff occurs almost entirely outside of the South:
* Rockets are built in Colorado, California, and Utah
* Satellites are built in Colorado, California, and Arizona
* Most of the really serious space missions are controlled from Maryland, California, and Colorado
So if the presence of space centers is an indication of technological prowess, the fact that the manufacture and control of serious programs occurs almost entirely outside the South has to indicate that the South has no ability to support such things.
The real question -- which is not addressed by this discussion -- is whether the old Southern culture lent itself to the sort of technological prowess you've claimed it has. That's harder to answer, but it is true that the ante-bellum South had very little in the way of an industrial base. This suggests that Southern culture was not particularly engaged -- and probably disinterested -- with the accumulation of technological knowledge, which is vital to the creation of an industrial base.
Uhhhh........the first coke machines were made in Chattanooga, Tennessee. HOWZAT for technological prowess?! ;-)
They are building the F-22 at Martin Marietta here in Atlanta at the same location they built B-29's in 1944-45.
This kind of carping is all kind of wacky. Certainly the feds decided where a lot of these facilities would go. It's nothing to do with native intellectual prowess or anything like that. This wierd seque is driven, as so many are, by southern defensiveness.
Walt
No. I am noting the fallacy in the assertion "Here on the west coast, not to many are impressed with cars going in circles at 180 mile an hour. Now sending a space craft into space and reaching 27 miles a second, does have a tendency to impress us. While some folks in the south play with toys, many here have left the ol south in the dust of the past."
Such an assertion directly claims space technology for the left coast while implying that the south is technologically inferior and impressed with automobiles of years past. The southern domination of the space program indicates both are incorrect.
In reality, the mere location of a space center in the south has nothing to do with the question either way. The mere presence of buildings and wires don't tell us a thing about Southerners' technical savvy.
Reality suggests otherwise. Speaking as a first hand witness for Houston, we have a prominent space-tech oriented economy growing up around the southeast suburbs of the city not too far from mission control. Several of the tech giants like Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed-Martin have set up major project offices here as have several dozen other robotics and aerospace firms. We've got what is arguably one of the top concentrations of tech and aerospace firms in any given area of the US, and especially of any major city.
Remember, the sites themselves were selected either for purely technical reasons (KSC), military jurisdiction (MSFC), or political patronage (JSC). And the fact that they're there simply means that people will have to move to the South in order to work those sorts of projects
Really? Cause the Houston industry has practically grown up around JSC itself with no shortage of personel considering its proximity to a major city.
There was nothing explicitly "Southern" that made these the inevitable locations.
I never said there was. I simply note that, contrary to another person's implications the south is not unaware of the space program and is in fact probably more economically and experientially oriented around it than any other region of the nation.
But if we grant your point, it's actually quite damaging to your underlying position: most of the really serious space stuff occurs almost entirely outside of the South: * Rockets are built in Colorado, California, and Utah * Satellites are built in Colorado, California, and Arizona * Most of the really serious space missions are controlled from Maryland, California, and Colorado
Serious space stuff? You mean lobbing satelites into orbit. As you noted, they do that in Guyana as well. I'll grant the activity is certainly serious, important, and beneficial to communications, navigation, and military, but I don't think is comparable to actual manned space flight. Our nation's greatest space acheivements - i.e. putting Americans into space and the moon landing - were launched from Florida and controlled from Houston.
So if the presence of space centers is an indication of technological prowess, the fact that the manufacture and control of serious programs occurs almost entirely outside the South has to indicate that the South has no ability to support such things.
Does it though? You simply stated a couple of states where it occurs, yet as I have noted, practically every major aerospace tech firm involved in the space program has installations in Houston, many of them among their largest if not their single largest operations. Then again, while part gathering is important to space operations, it's all meaningless unless those operations actually take place. And for that you need a launch site and mission control, both of them in the south.
That's harder to answer, but it is true that the ante-bellum South had very little in the way of an industrial base.
Such is the nature of an agrarian society, but the absence of coal belching sweat shops does not necessarily mean the absence of persuing technological knowledge. The war itself demonstrated that. In case you are wondering about what I refer to, I don't believe the yankee navy included submarines and their ironclads didn't arrive until after ours.