Kennedy's space legacy

President John F. Kennedy's commitment in the '60s to space exploration ended up turning parts of the rural South into science hotspots. Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas all benefited when the federal government established NASA centers in Dixie with the task of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Areas like Huntsville, Ala., and Bay St. Louis, Miss., changed forever by being part of the “space crescent.” (Sources: Stateline, 11/20/13, Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2013-2014, Chapter III, June 2013)