Abstract

Star Wars Fell On Alabama

A traveler-driving north through the red clay hills of Alabama who crosses the Tennessee River on Route 231 enters an oasis of affluence in one of the poorest states in the nation. Ahead is Huntsville, where employment has grown 23 percent during the past four years and the local Chamber of Commerce prints up business cards proclaiming "the sky is not the limit" in red ink. The dollars that have ignited Huntsville's growth come from the coffers of the Strategic Defense Initiative, various Army missile programs and a civilian space program that increasingly serves military needs. The Federal government has brought prosperity to Huntsville, but the work it funds is dedicated to the otherworldly technical challenges of Star Wars and space travel.