Facts on Neil Armstrong

The memory is vivid in my mind even today. My father, who used to spend a lot of his spare time fiddling with our Murphy radio (we didn’t have TV in those days), trying to tune in to international news broadcasts like the BBC and VOA, suddenly caught the static-filled live commentary of the Apollo 11 space mission to the moon. And both of us, sat glued to it, listening with rapt attention. Since then, much has taken place, and we have learnt a lot more about space, the moon, the solar system, the existence of other planets revolving around other suns, however, nothing has ever matched the magic of the first man setting foot on the moon phenomenon. And of course, Neil Armstrong was that man. His famous words as he did so – ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ – has remained etched in the imagination of people all around the world ever since. Given below are some more facts on Neil Armstrong.

The American astronaut, Neil Armstrong, was born on the 5th of August 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Before he entered the space program, he had piloted jets, helicopters, and flying gliders for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree, with aeronautical engineering as his subject, which he earned from Purdue University. He then went on to get the Master of Science degree, with aerospace engineering as his subject from the University of Southern California. He also has a number of honorary doctorates, awarded to him by several universities.

It is said that his passion for flying began when he was just two years old when he was taken by his father to the National Air Races, which was held in Cleveland, Ohio. This interest deepened further when ate age six he experienced his first ride on an airplane in a Ford Tri-Motor, in Warren, Ohio.

Neil Armstrong started taking lessons in flying at an airport located to the north of Wapakoneta when he was 15 years old in an Aeronca Champion airplane. In order to pay for the lessons, he worked at a number of jobs at the airport as well as the town.

It was on his 16th birthday that Armstrong became a licensed pilot, which he got before he had graduated and before he had even received his automobile driver’s license.

While he was studying for his aeronautical engineering, the Korean War broke out, in 1950, in which he served, flying 78 combat missions. His plane was shot down once and he was also awarded 3 Air Medals.

Later, he became a skilful test pilot, flying right to the atmosphere’s edge, 207,500 feet, or 63,198 meters, at 4,000 miles per hour, in the famous experimental rocket powered aircraft, X-15.

Neil Armstrong went on his first mission into space on the 16th of March 1966, in the spacecraft Gemini 8, as the command pilot. He docked the Gemini 8 successfully with an Agena target craft that was in orbit already. Although the docking was smooth enough, while the spacecrafts orbited together, they started to roll and pitch. Armstrong then managed to undock the Gemini, and regained control of the spacecraft by using the retro rockets. However, this resulted in the astronauts having to make an emergency landing into the Pacific Ocean.

Neil Armstrong today can still be counted amongst the most well-know people in the world, although he has chosen to remain private. For many years after his epochal moment in history, he avoided the limelight and the media. However, he finally decided to emerge back into the limelight when he gave permission for a biography to be written, named ‘First Man - The Life of Neil Armstrong’, which was authored by James Hansen.

Remembering the experience of the historical Apollo 11 flight lifting off, perched on the powerful Saturn V rocket, Neil Armstrong said that: "It felt like a train on a bad railroad track, shaking in every direction. And it was loud, really loud."