To attract new business, Boeing expanded its territory beyond aviation. Boeing Computer Services sold commercial computer products, including one used by 148 government and commercial customers, and staffed computer training centers around the country.
Light-Rail Vehicle
Boeing employees irrigated an eastern Oregon desert, managed housing projects for the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, built a desalinization plant that converted sea water to fresh water for a resort in the Virgin Islands and built voice scramblers for police departments. They produced light-rail vehicles for Boston and San Francisco, introduced personal rapid transit in Morgantown, West Virginia, and built three gigantic wind turbines in the Columbia River gorge.
MOD-2 Wind Turbine
Boeing continued to promote sales of its commercial airplanes and work on several key defense and space programs. In 1973, the Boeing Mariner 10 probe was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a course for Venus and Mercury; the E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post, using the 747 airframe, made its first flight.
By then, Boeing had produced its 1,000th short-range attack missile (SRAM) and started on 1,715 air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM). In 1977, the first Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), using the 707 airframe, rolled out.