Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Neil Alden Armstrong
NASA Astronaut (former)
Born:
August 5th, 1930
Wapakoneta, Ohio, U.S.A
PREVIOUS OCCUPATION:
Naval Aviator, Test Pilot 1949-1952
TIME IN SPACE:
8 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 31 seconds
SELECTION:
1957 MISS Group; 1960 Dyna-Soar, 1962 NASA
Astronaut
MISSIONS:
Gemini 8, Apollo 11
‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’, this is the most famous remark of the twentieth century from one of the greatest explorers in history. Neil Alden Armstrong was the first American Astronaut to walk on the moon.
Childhood Interests
Neil Alden Armstrong was born on august 5, 1930 on his grandparent’s farm in northwest Ohio near Wapakoneta. He was the eldest of three children from his parents Stephen Koening and Viola Louise Engel Armstrong. Neil has a brother named Dean and a sister named June; the Armstrong family is Scots-Irish and German
When Neil was 2 years old, his dad took him to watch the 1932 Cleveland National Air Races. Later when Neil was six years old, his dad took him for his first airplane ride in a Tin Goose. This ride changed Neil's life forever.
Neil learned to read at a young age, and he read 90 books in first grade. Neil was so smart, his reading level was the same as fifth graders, and he ended up skipping second grade. Neil liked science and maths, he learned everything he could from his textbooks, and he even learned calculus. Neil began to learn and read about astronomy, he thought planets and stars were just as great as airplanes.
Neil joined the Boy Scouts when he was young, and worked so hard that they gave him the title of Eagle Scout. Later as an adult the Boy Scouts of America awarded him with the Distinguished Eagle Scout and Silver Buffalo Award.
As Neil grew up, he began to build model planes as a hobby, and he ended up building hundreds of them, he even made some from scratch. As he built each model plane he wanted to test them and so he had to build a wind tunnel (a tunnel that air is forced through at controlled speeds to study the effects of its flow) in his basement to carry out all the tests.
One of Neil's neighbours Mr. Zint had a powerful telescope, which he allowed Neil to use to look at the stars and planets. From using the telescope every day he became more interested in the moon. Thanks to Mr Zint’s kindness and encouragement Neil followed the path of interest.
He started taking flying lessons at fourteen years of age. At an airport, north of Wapakoneta. In those days his lessons cost nine dollars an hour. To pay for his lessons he had to work in lot of different jobs in town and at the airport. On his sixteenth birthday he was issued a student pilot’s license, and he didn’t even hold a driver’s license yet.
College years
In 1947, Neil Armstrong graduated from blume High School in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Neil went to the U.S Navy to pay for his college and they gave him a scholarship to study aeronautical engineering at Purdue University Indiana, where he joined Phi Delta Theta and Kappa Kappa Psi. Neil was the second person in his family to go to a University so this made his parents very proud.
Neil studied for two years at Purdue University, at the age of nineteen he was called to active duty by the navy where he got his jet pilot wings at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida. At the young age of twenty he was the youngest pilot in his squadron (screaming Eagles VF-51). During the Korean War (1950), Neil flew seventy-eight combat missions. Neil was sent to an aircraft carrier, called the U.S.S Essex. During the war Neil flew a Navy Panther jet, Neil was highly decorated for his service as a naval aviator.
After the war Neil went back to Purdue University and finished a degree in aeronautical engineering. He also got a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. Neil needed to make some spare money and decided to teach maths and deliver the campus newspaper. It was during these deliveries that he met Janet Elizabeth Shearon, who he would later go on to marry. Janet and Neil had a common interest in flying and so began dating.
After college Neil was offered a job as a test pilot at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. From there, he then went on to work at Edwards Air Force Base in California as a test pilot.
Neil married Janet Elizabeth Shearon on January 28, 1956. When they moved to California they bought an old cabin off a forest ranger in the San Gabriel Mountains. The cabin had no running water or electricity, but they both worked hard to turn it into a better place and more comfortable.
They had three children, Eric Alan (born June 30, 1957), Karen Anne (born April 13, 1956, mark Steven (born April 8, 1963). Sadly for their family, little Karen was diagnosed with a brain tumor and fell sick with pneumonia, which took her life at the age of two years old (died January 28, 1962).
Most of Neil’s time was spent training and he was still sad about the loss of his daughter, he hardly had time to spend with the boys and Janet. Neil and Janet got a divorce after thirty-eight years of marriage.
Not long after that Neil had a second marriage to Carol Held Knight on June 12, 1994. They are still happily married.
Career
NACA High Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base in California is where Neil became a skilled test pilot of the X-1B rocket plane. He was picked as one of the first three NACA pilots to fly the X-15 rocket-engine plane, he flew this seven times.
Neil decided to become an astronaut in 1962 and applied at NASA, September that same year he became America’s first non-military astronaut. His first assignment was as a reserve for pilot Gordon Cooper of Gemini 5 mission. Neil kept on training on the Gemini spacecraft and was picked to be command pilot for Gemini 8 mission. David Scott was his co-pilot and they launched from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 16, 1966. This mission took off okay but not for long after the Gemini 8 lost control and they went down in the Pacific Ocean.
Neil was then selected to command the moon mission Apollo 11; his team was Michael Collins and Edwin Buzz Aldrin. On July 16 at 9:32am they lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Apollo 11 passed into the pull of gravity of the moon on July 18 and went around the moon two times. The whole world stood still as Neil and Buzz landed the space module (named Eagle) following instructions from the mission control centre in Houston, Texas because their computers were not working.
They landed at 4:17:40 pm on July 20, “Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.” At 10:56pm Neil set foot on the moon, saying “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Both men spent nearly two and a half hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, and taking photos whilst doing experiments. The left behind a metal plate, which read, “Here men from planet earth first set upon the Moon. We came in peace for all mankind.”
Neil and Edwin returned to the Columbia to join Michael and the returned to earth on July 24.
There three astronauts were honoured with a parade in New York City, Neil got the Medal of Freedom, and this is the highest award a US Civilian can receive. He also got the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and 17 medals from other countries all over the world and the Congressional Space Medal of Honour.
The Apollo 11 mission was Neil’s last one.
Later Life
Neil went to NASA’s Office of Advanced Research and Technology to promote research. Then in 1971 Neil went to work at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, he was a professor of aerospace engineering for seven years.
Neil went on to do some government work; he helped with U.S. space programs for future use. President Ronald Reagan appointed Neil vice-chairman of the Presidential Commission that investigated the explosion of the Challenger in January 1986.
Neil held a position as chairman of AIL Systems, Inc, an aerospace electronics manufacturer. He has also worked for many other companies took over the years because of his experience as an engineer and an astronaut. In 1999 they held a ceremony to honour him at the National Air Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., get received the Langley Medal for the thirtieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
In his hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio, they have a museum named after him. The Neil Armstrong A is & Space Museum, where he sometimes makes public appearances.
Today Neil Armstrong lives on his farm in Lebanon, Ohio with his wife Carol.
Quote:
Neil said this when he was in the Columbia looking back to earth: “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”
NEIL ALDEN ARMSTRONG
Born:
August 5th, 1930
Wapakoneta, Ohio, U.S.A
PREVIOUS OCCUPATION:
Naval Aviator, Test Pilot 1949-1952
TIME IN SPACE:
8 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 31 seconds
SELECTION:
1957 MISS Group; 1960 Dyna-Soar, 1962 NASA
Astronaut
MISSIONS:
Gemini 8, Apollo 11
‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’, this is the most famous remark of the twentieth century from one of the greatest explorers in history. Neil Alden Armstrong was the first American Astronaut to walk on the moon.
Childhood Interests
Neil Alden Armstrong was born on august 5, 1930 on his grandparent’s farm in northwest Ohio near Wapakoneta. He was the eldest of three children from his parents Stephen Koening and Viola Louise Engel Armstrong. Neil has a brother named Dean and a sister named June; the Armstrong family is Scots-Irish and German
When Neil was 2 years old, his dad took him to watch the 1932 Cleveland National Air Races. Later when Neil was six years old, his dad took him for his first airplane ride in a Tin Goose. This ride changed Neil's life forever.
Neil learned to read at a young age, and he read 90 books in first grade. Neil was so smart, his reading level was the same as fifth graders, and he ended up skipping second grade. Neil liked science and maths, he learned everything he could from his textbooks, and he even learned calculus. Neil began to learn and read about astronomy, he thought planets and stars were just as great as airplanes.
Neil joined the Boy Scouts when he was young, and worked so hard that they gave him the title of Eagle Scout. Later as an adult the Boy Scouts of America awarded him with the Distinguished Eagle Scout and Silver Buffalo Award.
As Neil grew up, he began to build model planes as a hobby, and he ended up building hundreds of them, he even made some from scratch. As he built each model plane he wanted to test them and so he had to build a wind tunnel (a tunnel that air is forced through at controlled speeds to study the effects of its flow) in his basement to carry out all the tests.
One of Neil's neighbours Mr. Zint had a powerful telescope, which he allowed Neil to use to look at the stars and planets. From using the telescope every day he became more interested in the moon. Thanks to Mr Zint’s kindness and encouragement Neil followed the path of interest.
He started taking flying lessons at fourteen years of age. At an airport, north of Wapakoneta. In those days his lessons cost nine dollars an hour. To pay for his lessons he had to work in lot of different jobs in town and at the airport. On his sixteenth birthday he was issued a student pilot’s license, and he didn’t even hold a driver’s license yet.
College years
In 1947, Neil Armstrong graduated from blume High School in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Neil went to the U.S Navy to pay for his college and they gave him a scholarship to study aeronautical engineering at Purdue University Indiana, where he joined Phi Delta Theta and Kappa Kappa Psi. Neil was the second person in his family to go to a University so this made his parents very proud.
Neil studied for two years at Purdue University, at the age of nineteen he was called to active duty by the navy where he got his jet pilot wings at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida. At the young age of twenty he was the youngest pilot in his squadron (screaming Eagles VF-51). During the Korean War (1950), Neil flew seventy-eight combat missions. Neil was sent to an aircraft carrier, called the U.S.S Essex. During the war Neil flew a Navy Panther jet, Neil was highly decorated for his service as a naval aviator.
After the war Neil went back to Purdue University and finished a degree in aeronautical engineering. He also got a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. Neil needed to make some spare money and decided to teach maths and deliver the campus newspaper. It was during these deliveries that he met Janet Elizabeth Shearon, who he would later go on to marry. Janet and Neil had a common interest in flying and so began dating.
After college Neil was offered a job as a test pilot at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. From there, he then went on to work at Edwards Air Force Base in California as a test pilot.
Neil married Janet Elizabeth Shearon on January 28, 1956. When they moved to California they bought an old cabin off a forest ranger in the San Gabriel Mountains. The cabin had no running water or electricity, but they both worked hard to turn it into a better place and more comfortable.
They had three children, Eric Alan (born June 30, 1957), Karen Anne (born April 13, 1956, mark Steven (born April 8, 1963). Sadly for their family, little Karen was diagnosed with a brain tumor and fell sick with pneumonia, which took her life at the age of two years old (died January 28, 1962).
Most of Neil’s time was spent training and he was still sad about the loss of his daughter, he hardly had time to spend with the boys and Janet. Neil and Janet got a divorce after thirty-eight years of marriage.
Not long after that Neil had a second marriage to Carol Held Knight on June 12, 1994. They are still happily married.
Career
NACA High Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base in California is where Neil became a skilled test pilot of the X-1B rocket plane. He was picked as one of the first three NACA pilots to fly the X-15 rocket-engine plane, he flew this seven times.
Neil decided to become an astronaut in 1962 and applied at NASA, September that same year he became America’s first non-military astronaut. His first assignment was as a reserve for pilot Gordon Cooper of Gemini 5 mission. Neil kept on training on the Gemini spacecraft and was picked to be command pilot for Gemini 8 mission. David Scott was his co-pilot and they launched from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 16, 1966. This mission took off okay but not for long after the Gemini 8 lost control and they went down in the Pacific Ocean.
Neil was then selected to command the moon mission Apollo 11; his team was Michael Collins and Edwin Buzz Aldrin. On July 16 at 9:32am they lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Apollo 11 passed into the pull of gravity of the moon on July 18 and went around the moon two times. The whole world stood still as Neil and Buzz landed the space module (named Eagle) following instructions from the mission control centre in Houston, Texas because their computers were not working.
They landed at 4:17:40 pm on July 20, “Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.” At 10:56pm Neil set foot on the moon, saying “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Both men spent nearly two and a half hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, and taking photos whilst doing experiments. The left behind a metal plate, which read, “Here men from planet earth first set upon the Moon. We came in peace for all mankind.”
Neil and Edwin returned to the Columbia to join Michael and the returned to earth on July 24.
There three astronauts were honoured with a parade in New York City, Neil got the Medal of Freedom, and this is the highest award a US Civilian can receive. He also got the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and 17 medals from other countries all over the world and the Congressional Space Medal of Honour.
The Apollo 11 mission was Neil’s last one.
Later Life
Neil went to NASA’s Office of Advanced Research and Technology to promote research. Then in 1971 Neil went to work at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, he was a professor of aerospace engineering for seven years.
Neil went on to do some government work; he helped with U.S. space programs for future use. President Ronald Reagan appointed Neil vice-chairman of the Presidential Commission that investigated the explosion of the Challenger in January 1986.
Neil held a position as chairman of AIL Systems, Inc, an aerospace electronics manufacturer. He has also worked for many other companies took over the years because of his experience as an engineer and an astronaut. In 1999 they held a ceremony to honour him at the National Air Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., get received the Langley Medal for the thirtieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
In his hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio, they have a museum named after him. The Neil Armstrong A is & Space Museum, where he sometimes makes public appearances.
Today Neil Armstrong lives on his farm in Lebanon, Ohio with his wife Carol.
Quote:
Neil said this when he was in the Columbia looking back to earth: “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”
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