Neil Armstrong: THE FIRST MAN TO SET FOOT ON THE MOON
Neil Armstrong: THE FIRST MAN TO SET FOOT ON THE MOON
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong did something no one had ever done before – he set foot on the moon.
After 3 days aboard Apollo 11, Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin spent 21 hours on the moon, two-and-a-half of those hours spent outside the landing module. They did experiments, took pictures, and brought back 46 pounds of moon rocks. After retiring from NASA in 1971, Armstrong taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, was appointed as vice chairman of the presidential commission that investigated the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, and served as chairman of AIL Systems, Inc., an aerospace electronics manufacturer (just to name a few). In 1999, he was honored at a ceremony at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he received the Langley Medal in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Photo courtesy of aerospaceguide.net.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Armstrong became a licensed pilot on his 16th birthday, prior to graduating high school and obtaining his automobile license.
- Before landing on the moon, Armstrong piloted jets, helicopters, and flying gliders for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.
- He almost became the first man “lost” in space. While aboard Gemini 8, the spacecraft began spinning wildly out of control while attempting a docking maneuver. Armstrong almost blacked out before fixing the program and returning safely to Earth.
- He stepped on the moon with his left foot first
- Apollo 11 was Armstrong's final space mission.