Once that question had been defined, SPAN went out to search for an answer. If it wished, SPAN could go directly to the manufacturers’ plants. During missions, North American in Downey, Grumman on Long Island, and M.I.T. in Cambridge each had rooms with engineers standing by twenty-four hours a day, with access to all of their plants’ archives and testing facilities. The dozens of subcontractors scattered around the country also maintained on-duty staffs. If, for example, Grumman wanted to know the testing history of a particular LEM battery manufactured by Eagle Pitcher in Joplin, Missouri,
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