This chapter expands on the notion of Apollo Culture in greater detail, beginning with an historic context of the Cold War era. It takes a look at the Sputnik and Vanguard launches during the IGY (International Geophysical Year) Space Race, and explains how these political and social events of the mid-20th century set the stage for the rise and fall of the Apollo program- which required a combination of engineering, marketing, and scientific efforts by the federal government.

Deep within the rugged mountains above Simi Valley and standing tall against the desert landscape of southern New Mexico lie the once-majestic rocket test stands and research facilities that helped send men to the moon for the first time in 1969. Now silent for decades, many of these abandoned structures–and countless space research, astronaut training, and manufacturing facilities that dot the American landscape–lie crumbling in ruins, failing to achieve recognition for their role in the historic Apollo missions. These sites helped refine the Saturn V rocket engines that carried Apollo 11 to the moon, developed the equipment that allowed humans to survive in an oxygen-free environment, and tested the re-entry shields on the command module. The contributions of these sites are no less important than Cape Canaveral and Mission Control and the preservation of them is just as important to archaeology. History remembers Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, but it has long since forgotten the vanishing sites that reflect the historic “culture of Apollo.”

“Facilities to Protect Human Life and Safety” reviews many of the sites and facilities where experimentation on human life support and safety technology was carried out, including the White Sands Missile Range, where the Little Joe II rocket was created. This includes human and non-human primate testing at Edwards and Holloman Air Force bases, by mentionables John Stapp and Joseph Kittinger, on a variety of rocket sleds such as the Bopper Sled. The chapter also covers nominable test tracks like the High Speed and Daisy Test Track, as well as life support equipment, high-altitude jumps, and G-force.

“Threats to Space Heritage Sites” explores a number of threats to space heritage sites on Earth and the Moon. It begins with an overview of what threats mean for the significance and integrity of a site, and include factors like environmental damage, neglect, and failure to properly identify resources which can lead to create adverse effects. The authors call upon the federal government, private sector, and public to preserve important sites in space heritage before they are lost or damaged.

“Preservation of Space Heritage using Models from the Sea and Antarctica” turns to existing precedents set by the concepts of international waters and lands, like Underwater Heritage for the sea and Antarctica, as possible models for how other properties that lack ownership (such as Tranquillity Base on the Moon) could be preserved. The authors also discuss the concept of cultural landscape as a mechanism that is gaining recognition among other types of historic preservation efforts, being made by the likes of the UN Convention, NASA Guidelines, XPrize, and the Outer Space Treaty, and how it is becoming more important as threats to space heritage are emerging.