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Armstrong, Neil Alden
Armstrong
Armstrong
Credit: www.spacefacts.de
American test pilot astronaut 1962-1970. First person to step onto the moon. Member of first crew to dock in space.

Status: Deceased; Active 1962-1970. Born: 1930-08-05. Died: 2012-08-25. Spaceflights: 2 . Total time in space: 8.58 days. Birth Place: Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Flew 78 combat missions with US Navy in Korea.

Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:Neil A. Armstrong
NASA Astronaut (deceased)

PERSONAL DATA: Born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Married. Two sons. Died on August 25, 2012.

EDUCATION: Armstrong received a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. He held honorary doctorates from multiple universities.

SPECIAL HONORS: Armstrong was a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the International Astronautics Federation.

Armstrong was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. He served as a member of the National Commission on Space (1985 to 1986), as Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (1986) and as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Peace Corps (1971 to 1973).

Armstrong was decorated by 17 countries. He was the recipient of many special honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the Explorers Club Medal, the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, the Royal Geographic Society's Gold Medal, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's Gold Space Medal, the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Astronautics Award, the Octave Chanute Award and the John J. Montgomery Award.

EXPERIENCE: After serving as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952, Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1955. His first assignment was with the NACA Lewis Research Center (now NASA Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland. Over the next 17 years, he was an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NACA and its successor agency, NASA.

He was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati between 1971 and 1979. During the years 1982 to 1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia.

NASA EXPERIENCE: As a research pilot at NASA's Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, Armstrong was a project pilot on many pioneering high speed aircraft, including the well known, 4000-mph X-15. He flew more than 200 different models of aircraft, including jets, rockets, helicopters and gliders.

Armstrong transferred to astronaut status in 1962. He was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. Gemini 8 was launched on March 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.

As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface.

Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination and management of overall NASA research and technology work related to aeronautics.

He resigned from NASA in 1971.

AUGUST 2012

Official NASA Biography - 1997

Neil A. Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory (later NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, and today the Glenn Research Center) in 1955. Later that year, he transferred to the NACA's High-Speed Flight Station (today, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base in California as an aeronautical research scientist and then as a pilot, a position he held until becoming an astronaut in 1962. He was one of nine NASA astronauts in the second class to be chosen.

As a research pilot Armstrong served as project pilot on the F-100A and F-100C aircraft, F-101, and the F-104A. He also flew the X-1B, X-5, F-105, F-106, B-47, KC-135, and Paresev. He left Dryden with a total of over 2450 flying hours. He was a member of the USAF-NASA Dyna-Soar Pilot Consultant Group before the Dyna-Soar project was cancelled, and studied X-20 Dyna-Soar approaches and abort maneuvers through use of the F-102A and F5D jet aircraft.

Armstrong was actively engaged in both piloting and engineering aspects of the X-15 program from its inception. He completed the first flight in the aircraft equipped with a new flow-direction sensor (ball nose) and the initial flight in an X-15 equipped with a self-adaptive flight control system. He worked closely with designers and engineers at what became Dryden in development of the adaptive system, and made seven flights in the rocket plane from December 1960 until July 1962. During those fights he reached a peak altitude of 207,500 feet in the X-15-3, and a speed of 3,989 mph (Mach 5.74) in the X-15-1.

Armstrong was born August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He attended Purdue University, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955. During the Korean War, which interrupted his engineering studies, he flew 78 combat missions in F9F-2 jet fighters. He was awarded the Air Medal and two Gold Stars. He later earned a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.

He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1962. On March 16, 1966 Armstrong and Dave Scott aboard Gemini 8 conducted the first docking in space. But shortly after the Gemini and the Agena docked, the craft began spinning out of control. Armstrong disengaged from the Agena, thinking the problem was there, but the tumbling worsened. It was later determined that it was one of 16 Gemini thrusters was stuck. Unable to stop the spin with the main thrusters, Armstrong shut down the Gemini's reaction control system and brought the craft under control using a second set of 16 thrusters intended only for use on re-entry. Mission Control ordered Armstrong and Scott to cut the flight short and they splashed down in a contingency recovery area in the western Pacific. Armstrong's successful recovery of the spacecraft in a situation that, if misjudged, could easily have resulted in the death of the crew, resulted in his being made commander of the mission that resulted in the first manned lunar landing.

On July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped off the ladder of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module and became the first human being to set foot on the moon. He was later joined by Buzz Aldrin for two hours of ceremonies and moon rock collecting. The next day the astronauts' Lunar Module lifted off from the lunar surface and docked with the Apollo 11 command module, piloted by Mike Collins, in lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin transferred their moon rocks to the command module. The Lunar Module ascent stage was cast off and the crew rocketed to a safe recovery in the Pacific Ocean.

Armstrong had a total of 8 days and 14 hours in space, including 2 hours and 48 minutes walking on the Moon. After the moon landing and the subsequent world tours by the crew, from 1969 to 1971, he was Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA Headquarters. He resigned from NASA in August 1971 to become Professor of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, a post he held until 1979. He became Chairman of the Board of Cardwell International, Ltd., in Lebanon, Ohio, in 1980 and served in that capacity until 1982. During the years 1982-1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., in Charlottesville, Virginia. From 1981 to 1999, he served on the board of directors for Eaton Corp. He was still serving as chairman of the board of AIL Systems, Inc. of Deer Park, New York, as of 1999. From 1985 to 1986 he served on the National Commission on Space, a presidential committee to develop goals for a national space program into the 21st century. He was also Vice Chairman of the committee investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. During the early 1990s he hosted an aviation documentary series for television entitled First Flights.

Armstrong has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal for Freedom and the Robert J. Collier Trophy in 1969; the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy in 1970; the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978; and many medals from other countries.


More at: Armstrong.

Family: Astronaut. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Gemini. Flights: Gemini 5, Gemini 8, Gemini 11, Apollo 8, Apollo 11. Projects: Apollo. Agency: NASA. Bibliography: 459, 5119.
Photo Gallery

Gemini 8Gemini 8
Astronauts Scott and Armstrong inserted into Gemini 8 spacecraft
Credit: NASA


Gemini 8Gemini 8
Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong in Gemini 8 spacecraft during countdown
Credit: NASA


Apollo 11Apollo 11
View of Astronaut Neil Armstrong in Lunar Module
Credit: NASA



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