Lunar landing: Arthur Brown

Arthur Brown, 69, of Freeport was a Grumman quality control inspector who worked on the lunar module.

I went to work for Grumman in August 1967. I worked in the LM hangar. . . . The mechanics would put it together, make installations, and I would inspect it to make sure they did it properly. . . .

It looked like somebody had a nightmare when they designed it. My perception of aircraft was wing and throttle and things like that. You had to get it into your head that it was not an air vehicle, it was a space vehicle. My first impression was: How are they going to make this thing fly? It was basically a big ball sitting on top of four square cans. . . .

It was quite a program. . . . The testing and the repeat testing, it went 24 hours. . . . They had NASA people that came in. So usually when they came around everybody was always on their toes. . . .

I was watching it [the moon landing] at work. . . . It gave you a feeling of pride, knowing you were a part of it.