Something you probably didn’t know about NASA—and Alabama

By Gary S. Vasilash

Although when you think of “NASA” Cape Canaveral comes to mind (or Houston, as in “we’ve got a problem”), it is actually the case there is “Rocket City,” and it isn’t in Florida or Texas.

Rather, it is Huntsville, Alabama, which is where Dr. Wernher von Braun and colleagues began work in the 1950s on rockets, like the Saturn V, which launched all Apollo missions, which were the ones that got the U.S. to the Moon.

Of course, the whole space industry is changed, with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin gaining ground in, well, space.

Huntsville is still home to operations like the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, which is still working on extraterrestrial programs, like the Artemis II mission and the science operations on the International Space Station.

But like any city, Huntsville is diversifying.

One of the notable changes in the industrial base on Huntsville occurred in September 2021, when the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant went into production. (Although it is actually located in Madison, Alabama, it is in the Huntsville metro area and consequently, for geographical convenience, called the “Huntsville plant.”)

The first vehicle built there was the Toyota Corolla Cross. Then, a few months later, in January 2022, a Mazda went into production in the plant: the CX-50.

Here’s something to know: although both the Corolla Cross and the CX-50 are both compact crossovers, they are not based on the same platform. The Corolla Cross uses the Toyota TNGA-C platform and the CX-50 the Mazda Skyactiv-G platform.

What’s more—and it is more—the CX-50 is significantly larger (e.g., the CX-50 is 185.8 inches long and the Corolla cross 176.1 inches).

However, there is something shared between Mazda and Toyota for the hybrid version of the CX-50: the CX-50 Hybrid uses the fourth-generation Toyota hybrid system, which had been used in the previous-generation RAV4, for example. (The 2026 RAV4 moved to gen five.)

So what we have in the case of the vehicle at hand is an inside and outside executed by Mazda and a powertrain from Toyota. Which is a solid combination.

The vehicle has a good stance. While some vehicles in this category are going for a more blocky look, presumably to make them seem as they’re more capable of traveling on terrain that the owners are highly unlikely to ever even see, this Mazda, like other vehicles offered by the brand, provides a stylish appearance.

This is accentuated by the 19-inch alloy wheels. (Yes, 19-inch wheels, certainly something different for a vehicle in this category.)

On the inside, it is clear that this is a contemporary vehicle. What is refreshing, however, is that there is no pretending that this is something that would be tested at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Yes, there is a 10.25-inch infotainment screen and the gauges are in a 7-inch LCD cluster.

And there are buttons for various functions, like controlling the HVAC. (Let’s face it, when you get into a vehicle on a cold winter morning, it is much better to make a quick stab at a button and not have to consult a screen. And speaking of winter, the trim driven here has a heated steering wheel.)

There is red stitching (which seems suited to the brand) on the trim. There is the use of metallic surrounds and accents, both bright and brushed. There is no fake wood, which is an absolute plus, as is the little bit of piano black plastic. The whole execution provides a sense of premiumness and purpose, simple and straightforward.

There are nice details, like a small light on the stalk where the windshield wipers are controlled that illuminates when the setting is for automatic wiping. Sure, this is a small thing, but it is often difficult to determine whether that is on or not. And on the subject of windshield wiping, when you activate the windshield cleaning fluid function rather than a spray on the windshield, the fluid goes through the wiper arms, an efficient approach.

Another nice thing is the wireless charging pad that is tucked under the front of the arm rest covering the center console. The surface is angled back so the phone is in place better than if the surface was flat. There’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so there is no concern about the positioning of the phone.

About the powertrain: there’s a 176-hp four that’s supplemented by three electric motors (one in the rear to provide AWD) so there is a system horsepower of 219. The vehicle is capable of returning 39 mpg city, 37 mpg highway and 38 mpg combined.

To be sure, the CX-50 Hybrid is in a competitive field. But it more than holds its own.