Neil Armstrong he became internationally known for being an astronaut, and his fame is due to the fact that he was the first man in history to have set foot on the moon. This fact happened on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11, a mission that capped a decade of investments made by Nasa in order to send man to the moon.
Read too: Myths and truths about the arrival of man on the moon
birth and youth
Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in the city of Wapakoneta, in the interior of the state of Ohio (USA). his parents were Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel, and Neil was the oldest son of the couple. His father worked as an auditor for the Ohio state government, and his mother was a housewife.
Neil Armstrong has always been a very discreet person and, therefore, few details of his personal life are known. In any case, it is known that, since childhood, Armstrong developed a passion for aviation and at 16 he already had a license to fly. At 17, he joined the PurdueUniversity, located in the state of Indiana, studying engineeringaerospace.
Armstrong was able to fund his studies through a scholarship system provided by the US Navy. When he was halfway through his course, he had to take service in the US Navy for three years and, therefore, he ended up being sent to fight in the Korean War, conflict that took place between 1950 and 1953.
Also access: Discover the context that justified the US involvement in the Korean War
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Military service
The Korean War was a conflict that started when the government of North Korea ordered to invasion of South Koreaaiming to unify the Korean Peninsula under the leadership of a regime communist. The US government joined this struggle in 1950, as a way to prevent South Korea from being transformed into a communist nation.
Armstrong's entry into the US Navy took place in January 1949, and in August 1951 he performed his first official mission in the war. In all, he performed 78 missions in the Korean War, and in one of them, he faced real danger when his fighter was damaged and forced him to eject from the ship. In 1952, Armstrong was discharged from military service and then returned to college to complete his degree in Aerospace Engineering.
Professional life
After graduating in Aerospace Engineering, Armstrong still completed a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering and received several honorary doctorates. After graduating from Purdue University, he became test pilot to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (Naca), an agency that later gave way to NASA.
In this work, Armstrong conducted tests with several aircraft, such as the F-100 Super Saber, O Lockheed T-33, O Boeing KC-135 it's the X-15, plane that reached over 7000 km/h. It was as a test pilot that Armstrong decided to join NASA, and, in 1962, he applied to join the United States space agency.
Armstrong's application to NASA arrived with a week late, but an acquaintance, named Dick Day, saw his candidacy and placed it with the others who had arrived on time without anyone noticing. Shortly thereafter, Armstrong was called upon to form the second class of NASA astronauts.
The group that Armstrong was part of became known in the United States as newNine (in free translation: Novos Nine) and was NASA's second class of astronauts, as mentioned. During his time at the agency, Armstrong was part of two important programs: o Gemini it's the Apollo.
Also access: Discover the dispute that motivated the sending of a man to the Moon
first man to set foot on the moon
Armstrong joined NASA after a selection that included rigorous physical exams and quite painful, according to reports. At NASA, he participated in the Gemini and Apollo programs, the first being a support program to ensure the success of the second, which would send manned expeditions to the Moon.
Armstrong was part of the reserve team at Gemini 5, mission that took place in 1965. THE Armstrong's first official mission as an astronaut he gave himself in Gemini 8. That mission took place in 1966, and were it not for Armstrong's skill as a pilot, it would have ended in a disaster that could have resulted in the death of himself and his companions.
During Gemini 8, a throttle failure caused the spacecraft to start spinning rapidly. This problem meant that Armstrong had to abort the docking mission and spend a large amount of fuel to be able to re-enter the atmosphere. The ship ended up landing in Okinawa, Japan.
The three astronauts who were part of Apollo 11, the mission that took man to the lunar ground. (Credit: Nasa)
Armstrong's choice to be the first man to set foot on the moon at Apollo 11 — the mission that took humans to the lunar ground for the first time — was announced in March 1969. The other two members of the mission were Michaelcollins and BuzzAldrin, and that choice caused relationship problems in the crew.
That's because Aldrin never hid his desire to be the first man to set foot on the moon, and when Armstrong was chosen for this, he tried to convince people, behind the scenes at NASA, of substitute it. Despite everything, the decision was upheld, and Buzz Aldrin never came to terms with the fact that he was the second man to set foot on the moon.
Several reasons have been speculated to justify choosing Armstrong over Aldrin. One of them claims that the choice was due to the fact that the first was a civilian, while the second was a military (the US army at the time had its image quite damaged by the involvement at Vietnam War). Another speculation takes into account the fact that Armstrong has been a member of NASA longer than Aldrin.
The official justification given by NASA took into account the lunar module project. Named eagle, the lunar module that took the astronauts to the moon had a hatch that opened inwards and barred the pilot's exit (Aldrin). It was necessary for the other passenger on the ship (Armstrong) to get out first so the pilot could get out.
Armstrong and Aldrin stayed more than two hours exploring the lunar surface. Numerous photographs were taken and brought 28 kg of moon rocks which have been used in several studies on the properties of the Moon. As soon as he stepped onto lunar soil, Armstrong uttered the phrase that has been immortalized in history:
“One small step for man, one giant leap for humanity.” |
Despite being the first man to set foot on the moon, there are only two records in Armstrong's image during this important event: one when he made his descent to the lunar ground and another when he has his back to the camera.
Buzz Aldrin took numerous photos at the scene, but did not record any frontal images of Armstrong on the moon. At the time, Buzz Aldrin justified the fact, but many suggest he did so by not accepting that he was not the first man to step on our natural satellite.
On the 24th, the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the Pacific Ocean, and Armstrong and his companions stayed in quarantine for 21 days.
Read too: Why hasn't man returned to the moon yet?
Life after Apollo 11
After going to the moon, Armstrong became a celebrity in the United States (and around the world), and his personality was touted as that of a great American hero. The space engineer, however, insisted on keeping his private life as private as possible and he never made a point of promoting himself after he returned to Earth.
The astronaut ended up taking an administrative position at NASA, but left the institution in 1971. In the same year, he joined the University of Cincinnati, in the state of Ohio, like teacher of the Aerospace Engineering course. He was in the role for eight years, and in 1979 he quit his job for reasons he never explained.
Afterwards he was invited to be a member of committees that investigated accidents and failures with NASA spacecraft, the most emblematic case being that of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded seconds after launch in 1986. Armstrong was also hired by companies such as Chrysler and United Airlines.
private life
Neil Armstrong always made sure to keep his private life private and performed fewapparitionspublic. He was very concerned about his family's exposure and, throughout his life, he conducted very few interviews.
He also stopped signing autographs, after discovering that forgeries of his signature were being sold, and sued her hairdresser after he sold locks of her hair to a collector.
In terms of marriage, he had two relationships. the first was with JanetShearon, they were married between 1956 and 1994 and had two children, Eric Armstrong and Mark Armstrong. From that marriage, the couple's first child, Karen Armstrong, died at just over two years old, as a result of a tumor.
Armstrong's second marriage was to CarolKnight, he was married until the year of his death, in 2012.
Death
Neil Armstrong died on August 25, 2012, at the age of 82, as a result of a surgerycardiovascular which was performed to unblock your arteries. Armstrong's remains were cremated, and his ashes were thrown into the sea.
*Credit: severjn and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
