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Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who in 1969 became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Armstrong was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio.
- 1
- Overview
- Early life and career
- Moon landing
- Later career
Neil Armstrong is famous for being the first person to set foot on the Moon. He was a part of the Apollo 11 spaceflight alongside Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Apollo 11’s success in 1969 opened a new era of space exploration.
What was Neil Armstrong’s childhood like?
Neil Armstrong grew up in Wapakoneta, Ohio, as the eldest of three children. At age six he flew on an airplane for the first time, an experience that ignited in him a passion for aviation. He earned his pilot’s license on his 16th birthday and became a naval air cadet the following year.
How did Neil Armstrong get involved with NASA?
After earning a degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in 1955, Neil Armstrong became a civilian research pilot for what would later become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He flew more than 2,450 hours before joining the space program in 1962.
What happened on Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 mission?
Neil Armstrong was the eldest of three children born to Viola Louise Engel and Stephen Koenig Armstrong, a state auditor. Neil’s passion for aviation and flight was kindled when he took his first airplane ride at age 6. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable. He became a licensed pilot on his 16th birthday and a naval air cadet in 1947. His studies in aeronautical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, were interrupted in 1950 by his service in the Korean War, during which he was shot down once and was awarded three Air Medals. He completed his degree in 1955 and immediately became a civilian research pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), later the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He flew more than 1,100 hours, testing various supersonic fighters as well as the X-15 rocket plane.
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In 1962 Armstrong joined the space program with its second group of astronauts. On March 16, 1966, Armstrong, as command pilot of Gemini 8, and David R. Scott rendezvoused with an unmanned Agena rocket and completed the first manual space docking maneuver. After the docking, a rocket thruster malfunction sent the spacecraft into an uncontrolled spin and forced them to separate from the Agena. Armstrong then regained control of the Gemini craft and made an emergency splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
On July 16, 1969, Armstrong, along with Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins, blasted off in the Apollo 11 vehicle toward the Moon (see Apollo program). Four days later, at 4:17 pm U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the Eagle lunar landing module, guided manually by Armstrong, touched down on a plain near the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquillity (Mare Tranquillitatis). At 10:56 pm EDT on July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped from the Eagle onto the Moon’s dusty surface with the words, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” (In the excitement of the moment, Armstrong skipped the “a” in the statement that he had prepared.) Armstrong and Aldrin left the module for more than two hours and deployed scientific instruments, collected surface samples, and took numerous photographs.
On July 21, after 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon, they lifted off to rendezvous with Collins and begin the voyage back to Earth. After splashdown in the Pacific at 12:51 pm EDT on July 24, the three astronauts spent 18 days in quarantine to guard against possible contamination by lunar microbes. During the days that followed, and during a tour of 21 nations, they were hailed for their part in the opening of a new era in human exploration of the universe.
Armstrong resigned from NASA in 1971. After Apollo 11 he shied away from being a public figure and confined himself to academic and professional endeavours. From 1971 to 1979 he was professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio). After 1979 Armstrong served as chairman or director for a number of companies, among them Computing Technologies for Aviation from 1982 to 1992 and AIL Systems (later EDO Corporation), a maker of electronic equipment for the military, from 1977 until his retirement in 2002. He also served on the National Commission on Space (NCOS), a panel charged with setting goals for the space program, and on the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, the group appointed in 1986 to analyze the safety failures in the Challenger disaster. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.
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- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Early Life and Korean War. Neil Armstrong always wanted to fly. He was born on August 5, 1930 near Wapakoneta, Ohio, less than 60 miles from the Wright brothers’ workshop in Dayton.
- NASA Test Pilot. After finishing college, Armstrong went to work for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958.
- The Gemini Program. 1962 was a year of joy and heartache for the Armstrong family. Neil was chosen for NASA’s astronaut training program in Houston, but he and his wife Janet also lost their second child, a two-year-old daughter named Karen, to an inoperable brain tumor.
- The Moon Landing. Armstrong was selected for the Apollo program, the final push to the moon, but he almost never made it back to space. On May 6, 1968, Armstrong was in Houston conducting his 22nd test flight of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, an ungainly practice aircraft.
Aug 10, 2023 · Learn about the life and achievements of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon in 1969. Explore his military service, NASA career, later contributions and personal life.
Feb 26, 2024 · Learn about the life and achievements of Neil A. Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, aeronautical researcher, engineer, professor, and chairman of several companies and boards.
Mar 1, 2014 · Learn about Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon in 1969, and his career as a naval aviator, research pilot, and astronaut. Explore his biography, missions, achievements, and legacy at NASA.
Aug 25, 2012 · NASA. By John Noble Wilford. Aug. 25, 2012. Neil Armstrong, who made the “giant leap for mankind” as the first human to set foot on the moon, died on Saturday. He was 82. His family said in a...
