NEIL ARMSTRONG Biography - Pioneers, Explorers & inventors

 
 

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NEIL ARMSTRONG

Name: Neil Alden Armstrong                                                                 
Born: 5 August 1930 Wapakoneta, Ohio, U.S.                                                 
                                                                                           
Neil Alden Armstrong (born August 5, 1930) is a former American astronaut, test           
pilot, university professor, and naval aviator. He was the first person to set             
foot on the Moon. His first spaceflight was aboard Gemini 8 in 1966, for which             
he was the command pilot. On this mission, he performed the first manned docking           
of two spacecraft together with pilot David Scott. Armstrong's second and last             
spaceflight was as mission commander of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission on             
July 20, 1969. On this famous "giant leap for mankind", Armstrong and Buzz                 
Aldrin descended to the lunar surface ("The Eagle has landed") and spent 2.5               
hours exploring while Michael Collins orbited above.                                       
                                                                                           
Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was in the USN and saw action in the               
Korean War. After the war, he served as a test pilot at the National Advisory             
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station, now known as the               
Dryden Flight Research Center, where he flew over 900 flights in a variety of             
aircraft. As a research pilot, Armstrong served as project pilot on the F-100             
Super Sabre A and C aircraft, F-101 Voodoo, and the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter.           
He also flew the Bell X-1B, Bell X-5, North American X-15, F-105 Thunderchief, F-106       
Delta Dart, B-47 Stratojet, KC-135 Stratotanker and Paresev. He graduated from             
Purdue University.