Aerospace: Strength Through Change

After four months of tense anticipation by the aerospace industry, Washington last week chose a contractor for the nation's largest space project yet. To start work on the Apollo spacecraft, which is to carry three men to the moon and back, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration gave a $400 million initial order to Los Angeles' North American Aviation.

Though less well known to the public than many of its competitors (largely because no airliners carry its name), thrusting North American is the fourth biggest of aerospace companies, outranked only by General...