Neil Armstrong Research Paper

In the past humans have found ways to study space. Countries sent satellites and rocketships with animals in them to space. Finally, America decided to send a man to the moon. This person was Neil Armstrong. Because of this, Neil Armstrong revolutionized the world with just one step.
Armstrong had a good childhood. Armstrong was “born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5, 1930” (“Neil Armstrong”). Armstrongs parents names are Viola Armstrong and Stephen Armstrong (Hensen 276). Armstrong's father had a job that caused him and his family to move several times. He had two younger siblings one was a boy and the other was a girl. His grandmother is Caroline Korspeter and his grandfather is Willis Armstrong. Armstrong was in Boy Scouts and he worked his way to earn the title of Eagle Scout. When Armstrong was
a little boy he “earned a dollar for mowing a cemetery” (“5 Facts”).
He took a liking to flying after his first airplane ride. Armstrong was even a “gofer for pilots at the local airports” (“5 Facts”). Armstrong worked a lot of different jobs to “pay for his flight lessons” (“Armstrong 26”). He earned his “pilot's license before his driver's license” (“Armstrong 26”).
Armstrong did so much during his adult life. He earned a Navy Scholarship to Purdue University in Indiana. He entered Purdue University 1947. Part of his scholarship allowed him to be trained as a pilot in the Navy. Armstrong left college and went to serve in the Navy after the called him for active duty. He flew military aircraft for his branch in the late 1940s to the early 1950s. Armstrong “flew 78 combat missions” while serving (Van 46). He was 20 when he started to fly combat missions. Armstrong was shot down once during the Korean War (“Neil Armstrong”). He then returned to Purdue University and received a “B.S. in aeronautical engineering in 1955” (“Van 46”). The first thing Armstrong did after graduating was marrying another graduate from Purdue University, Janet Shearon on January 28, 1956. They
had a son the called Eric in 1957. Soon after came a little girl named Karen in 1959. Karen died at the age of three in 1962 because of a brain tumor. The second thing he did was become a “civilian research pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics(NACA)” which would soon become NASA (“Neil Armstrong”). He could fly over 200 types of airplanes. He tested the X-15 on which its fastest speed was 4000 mph. Armstrong applied for the Astronaut corps at NASA in 1962. Armstrong and his family moved to Houston, Texas when he was accepted into the astronaut program at NASA. He was accepted into the second group of astronauts, and he was the first civilian to be chosen. Armstrong was chosen to be the Command Pilot for the first mission he did. The spacecraft he would command would be the Gemini VIII, in 1966. His co-pilot was David Scott. The plan was to dock the Gemini VIII with the Gemini Agena which was the target vehicle. The mission had to be cut short because of some docking problems that occurred. They aborted the mission and 11 hours after the missions start time Armstrong and his co-pilot landed in the Pacific Ocean. The U.S.S Mason later rescued them.
Armstrong has done some significant things in his life but none of them can compare to the significance of the moon landing. Armstrong was chosen for the Apollo 11 mission because of his piloting skills. He had two other with him which were; Michael Collins and Edward E. “Buzz” Aldrin. Out of these three, Armstrong was the Spacecraft Commander. The Apollo 11 was the first manned Lunar mission ever. July 16, 1969, Armstrong and the two others took off towards the moon. Once the craft landed on the moon the one line that came through was “Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.” (Van #). July 20th was when Armstrong took his first steps on the moon. As he took his first steps on the moon he said: “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” (“Neil Armstrong”). Because of this, Armstrong was the first man ever to step onto the moon. Armstrong walked on the moon for at least two hours taking photos of his own footprints, collecting samples and conduction experiments. July 24, 1969, Apollo 11 heads back to earth. The aircraft lands in the pacific ocean where they are rescued by the U.S.S. Hornet. For three weeks the astronauts were kept in quarantine. When Armstrong got out of quarantine his first wife Janet Shearon filed for a divorce after 38 years of marriage. The moon landing is Armstrong's final space mission. After his final mission, Armstrong shied away from the spotlight. He decided to work for NASA’s Office of advanced Research. He served as deputy associate administrator for aeronautics. He soon left NASA in 1971.
Armstrong’s final years could be described as mostly peaceful. He decided to be a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati where he stayed for 8 yrs. Served as a chairman for a number of companies from 1982-1992. Armstrong also made electronic equipment for the military from 1977 to 2002. He served on two presidential commissions. He served as Vice Chairman of the Presidential Commission that was investigating the Space Challenger incident that took the lives of all it’s occupants on January 28, 1986. Even after everything that he has done he still finds a second wife and her name is Carol.
Armstrong had some opinions about the space programs. He ends up testifying about the talk of cancelling the Constellation program because it would require another trip into space. He also made comments in 2010 about his concerns for the changes being made to the Space program. With this Armstrong was able to get Obama to seek encouragement from private companies to get them involved in the space travel business. After this Armstrong remained committed to space exploration. He recieved 3 air medals, the Presidential Medal of freedom in 1969, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978 and the Congressional GOld Medal in 2009. Armstrong underwent a heart by-pass operation in August of 2012. He died on August 25, 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His cause of death was from complications relating to the Cardiovascular Procedure.