"Florida's Space Coast is the story of America's half century in space exploration, told for the first time from the unique viewpoint of the people who built the spaceport. From the first successful launch of a two-stage rocket in 1950 through the latest space shuttle missions of 2000, William Barnaby Faherty illustrates how the space program transformed the east central Florida coast from a traditional citrus production and tourist area into one of the most influential high-tech centers in the nation.".

"As a missile launch site, Cape Canaveral had many geographical advantages. As a place for NASA employees to raise their families, the area was far from ideal. NASA brought in thousands of space-related workers, who, besides sending machines and men into space, had to meet the challenge of moving their families from urban environs to a rural southern county.

This side-by-side evolutionary chronicle of America's space program and the county in which it was born provides an engaging first-hand look at how Florida's Space Coast propelled the state into the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET.