Neil Alden Armstrong
(*5.8.1930 – †25.8.2012)
Neil Armstrong was born on 5 August 1930 in Wapakoneta Ohio. His family move around the state for most of his young life. Then they finally settled back in Wapakoneta in 1944.
Neil held many jobs around town, especially at the local airport as he was always fascinated with aviation. After starting flying lessons at the age of 15, he was awarded a pilots license on his 16th birthday, before he had earned a driver’s license. Naturally interested in aviation, Armstrong decided to pursue a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University under the Holloway Plan
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) in Cleveland. Over the next 17 years, he was an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NACA and its successor agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
He was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. Gemini 8 was launched on March 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.
On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the Moon. 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.
He was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati between 1971-1979. During the years 1982-1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Charlottesville, Va.
He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. He holds honorary doctorates from a number of universities.
Neil Armstrong died on Aug. 25, 2012 following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. He was 82.
Timeline for Neil Armstrong
1930: Armstrong was born in Ohio
1949 to 1952: Navy pilot
1955: A test pilot for high-performance aircraft
1962: Selected by NASA to become an astronaut.
1966: First space flight
1968: Chosen, along with Edwin „Buzz“ Aldrin and Michael Collins, to be a member of the Apollo 11 mission
1969: First Man to step on the moon
1970: Resigned from the astronaut program
1971 to 1979: An engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati
1980: Chairman of Cardwell International, a supplier of oil-drilling equipment.
1986: Cochairman of the presidential commission investigating the explosion of space shuttle Challenger
Sources: Project Britain, chasejarvis, NASA – Neil Alden Armstrong biography, space.about
One of the Neil Armstrong’s pictures of the Moon surface
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