Born on August 5, 1930 on a farm near Wapakoneta, Ohio, Neil Alden Armstrong developed an early interest in aviation. He built many model airplanes as a child, starting with small models and eventually progressing to more powerful models that flew.
Armstrong developed an interest in the Moon and stars because a neighbor who owned a telescope often invited the children of the area over to gaze at the starts. He still kept an interest in flying, began taking lessons and was granted a student pilot’s license before he had a driver’s license.
He graduated from high school in 1947 and attended Purdue University at Lafayette with a scholarship from the United States Navy. Then the Korean War began and Armstrong was ordered overseas, serving on the aircraft carrier, USS Essex. He flew 78 combat missions and won three Air Medals.
After the war, he returned to Purdue and graduated in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering. He met Janet Shearon during his college years and married her on January 28, 1956. The marriage produced three children.
He became a test and research pilot for Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, and then transferred to High Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base. While in California, he attended the University of Southern California, completing his Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering in 1969.
Neil Armstrong and NASA
When NASA was established in 1958 in response to the Soviet Union’s launching of Sputnik 1, Armstrong’s department at Edwards AFB was consolidated into the new organization. He applied to be an astronaut and was accepted in 1962.
Armstrong was transferred to the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas and entered a two year training program. His first space mission came as the command pilot for Gemini 8, launched on March 16, 1962. Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.
Neil Armstrong on the Moon
On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission was launched and Armstrong was designated as spacecraft commander. He became the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969 and uttered the famous phrase: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Also on the mission with Armstrong were Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., who accompanied him to the surface aboard the landing module Eagle, and Michael Collins, who piloted the Columbia in orbit around the moon.
After 22 hours of conducting experiments and gather rock and soil samples, Armstrong and Aldrin returned to join Collins in the Columbia and splashed down in the Pacific ocean. The trio was personally welcomed aboard the USS Hornet by President Richard Nixon.
Source:
Erwin, Paul F. “Neil Armstrong.” Explorers. Vol 1 Salem Press, Inc. Pasadena, CA, 1998
