Page 74 - All About History - Issue 70-18

Neil Armstrong

“In all, they were out
Armstrong’s on the surface of the

achievements Moon for just two and

Date of Birth
5 August 1930 a half hours”

Hometown head of NASA’s astronaut office and himself an astronaut. A
Wapakoneta, Ohio, United States fuzzy video feed, watched by over half a billion people back
Armstrong joined the US on Earth, recorded what happened next. Armstrong, garbed
Navy on 26 January 1949 He was in his bulky space suit, the portable life support system on his

back, climbed down Eagle’s ladder, before pausing.
decorated
with awards “I’m at the foot of the ladder,” he said, describing the
from 17
countries ground below him. “The LM footpads are only depressed in
EDUCATION the surface about one or two inches, although the surface
appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it.
1944 It’s almost like a powder. Down there, it’s very fine.” Another
Attended Blume High School, in pause. “I’m going to step off the LM now.” Twisting around,
Wapakoneta, Ohio Neil Armstrong dropped down onto the surface of the

1950 Moon. “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for
Qualified as US Navy aviator mankind,” he said, words that will live long into the future.
They were also words that led to a degree of controversy.
1955 Did he or didn’t he say ‘a’ before ‘man’? Armstrong initially
Graduates from Purdue University y with a was adamant that he had and that it was only the poor radio
degree in Aeronautical Engineerin ng link that had caused it to be inaudible, but later in his life he
1970-71 became unsure, while various studied analysing the recording
1970 Deputy Associate Administrator for
Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering aeronautics at Aeronautics, NASA often produced differing opinions. Nevertheless, everyone
from the University of Southern California Headquarters, Washington, DC knows what he meant to say.
Armstrong was out alone on the lunar surface for nearly
Armstong also held honorary doctorates 1971-79 20 minutes before Buzz Aldrin joined him. Together they
from a number of universities. Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the planted the Stars and Stripes of the United States flag, had a
University of Cincinnati, Ohio
EXPERIENCE telephone called with President Richard Nixon, and collected
1986 some moon rocks to bring home for scientists to study.
1949-52 Appointed Vice-Chairman of the Rogers In all, they were out on the surface of the Moon for just
Served as a US Navy fighter jet pilot during Commission investigating the Challenger two and a half hours. It’s a curious fact of history that there
the Korean War space shuttle disaster by President Reagan are hardly any photographs of Armstrong on the surface of
the Moon. That’s because they only had one camera with
AWARDS
1955-62 them, and Armstrong carried it for the most part. There
Test pilot for the National Advisory was little time for larking about; their scientific tasks were
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 1969 planned to the minute.
Presidential Medal of Freedom “It has a stark beauty all its own,” Armstrong said of the
1962 lunar landscape. “It’s different but it’s very pretty out here.”
Selected as one of the second batch of 1970 There was one final drama to play out. Back inside
NASA astronauts NASA Distinguished Service Medal the Eagle, Armstrong and Aldrin prepared to lift off for

1969 1978 rendezvous with Michael Collins in the Columbia, where
Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, and Congressional Space Medal of Honour they noticed that the switch to fire the rocket ignition
the first person to walk on the Moon had broken off, presumably knocked off by their bulky
backpacks. Without being able to fire the engine, the two
astronauts would never be able to go home.
Indeed, President Nixon had two speeches prepared: one to
outside and explore the Moon. Originally, it was to be the Lunar celebrate a successful mission, and another to mourn two lost
Module pilot that would be the first to open the hatch, climb astronauts stranded on the Moon to die.
down the ladder and planet the first footstep into lunar soil. Fortunately, he got to read the celebratory speech. Buzz
However, before launch this was switched so that Armstrong jammed a ballpoint pen into where the switch was meant to be,
would be first out. the engine fired, and they departed the Moon.
The official reason given was because of the positioning of the After meeting and docking with Columbia, the three
hatch, which would make it difficult for the Lunar Module pilot astronauts headed for Earth, ultimately splashing down into the
to climb out first, but unofficially mission managers had doubts Pacific Ocean to be retrieved by the USS Hornet.
about Buzz Aldrin and his ‘ego’; they saw Armstrong as the more After time spent in quarantine (in case they brought
professional of the two. Armstrong stands by back any bugs from the Moon) the crew of Apollo 11 went
Also, “just on a pure protocol basis, I figured the commander the Lunar Module on on a worldwide tour, after which Armstrong announced his
ought to be the first guy out,” remembered Deke Slayton, the the surface of the Moon retirement as an astronaut.

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