the next frontier
Neil Armstrong, best known as the first man on the moon, and as having said the iconic words:"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." passed away this weekend. He was 82 years old. (NY Times obit here.)
Neil A. Armstrong bio:
- Born August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Married. Two sons.
- Bachelor of Science degree, aeronautical engineering, Purdue University; Master of Science in aerospace engineering, University of Southern California
- From 1949 to 1952 he served as a naval aviator and flew 78 combat missions during the Korean War
- Armstrong joined NACA, (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), NASA's predecessor, as a research pilot at the Lewis Laboratory in Cleveland and later transferred to the NACA High Speed Flight Station at Edwards AFB, California.
- In 1962, Armstrong was transferred to astronaut status, serving as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission, launched March 16, 1966. He performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.
- In 1969, Armstrong was commander of Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, and gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the Moon and the first man to step on its surface. The plaque Armstrong and Aldrin left on the moon read, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”
- Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters Office of Advanced Research and Technology, from 1970 to 1971. He resigned from NASA in 1971.
Info found on NASA's site, here.
Neil Armstrong resources to check out at your local library:
Kids:
Adult:
DVD:
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