Armstrong, Neil Alden (1930–)

Veteran American astronaut and the first human to set foot upon the Moon. Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University and an M.S. from the University of Southern California. He entered the Navy and flew as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952. In 1955 he joined NACA's (National Advisory Committee for Aviation's) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory and later transferred to the High Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base as a civilian aeronautical test research pilot for NACA and NASA. Among the aircraft he tested was the X-15 rocket plane.¹ He became an astronaut in 1962 and subsequently commanded the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions. On May 6, 1968, he had a narrow escape when the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle he was flying went out of control and he was forced to eject; he landed by parachute and walked away uninjured.

Upon returning from the Moon, Armstrong served as deputy associate administrator for the office of Advanced Research and Technology at NASA Headquarters. In 1971, he left NASA to become a professor of aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati where he taught until 1981. Since then he has been in the business world and is currently chairman of CTA, Inc.

Listen to Apollo 11 Moon landing

Listen to Armstrong stepping on to the Moon

Reference

Thompson, Milton O. and Neil Armstrong. At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight Program. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.

Related categories

• ASTRONAUTS AND COSMONAUTS
• AVIATION PIONEERS

Also on this site:

Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia of History

BACK TO TOP