First person on moon: Neil Armstrong

Humans have been fascinated by space for as long as humanity can be traced back.

We have tried to learn about the great beyond so many times.

Old texts and scriptures reveal the love that we hold for all the bodies in space.

From planets to stars and so much more, learning more about these things gives us a place to understand the whole universe in general.

One of our biggest steps in this direction was when we have our first successful moon landing in the year 1969.

One of the most significant incidents was championed by none other than the first person who stepped his foot on the moon.

Neil Armstrong changed and revolutionized the way we look at our friendly buddy moon, now that we have met it so many times.

Let us take a peek into the life story of the first person on the moon.

Neil Alden Armstrong or as we know him, Neil Armstrong was born on August 5th, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

He is known for being the U.S. astronaut who was the first person to set foot on the Moon.

Early life and career

Neil Armstrong was brought up among three children born to Viola Louise Engel and Stephen Koenig Armstrong, a state auditor.

He was the eldest of the three and was the older brother.

His passion for aviation and flights was sparked when he took his first airplane ride at age of 6.

He was always exemplary in school. He took an active part in the Boy Scouts of America.

He was so good at it that he ended up earning the rank of Eagle Scout which is the highest rank attainable.

On his 16th birthday, he became a licensed pilot. 

He continued his excellence as he grew up when he joined the Naval cadet in 1947.

He eventually started studying at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Here he studied aeronautical engineering. Unfortunately, his educational streak came to a halt in 1950 when he got called for service in the Korean army.

After coming back from the Korean war he was awarded three Air Medals.

He was even shot down while he was fighting for his country there. 

His degree was completed in the year 1955. After this, he quickly jumped into being a civilian research pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).

He joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) later.

He flew more than 1,100 hours, testing various supersonic fighters as well as the X-15 rocket plane

Career

Armstrong joined the space program in 1962 with its second group of astronauts.

On March 16, 1966, Armstrong, as command pilot of Gemini 8, and David R. Scott rendezvoused with an unmanned Agena rocket and completed the first manual space docking maneuver.

Following the docking, a rocket thruster malfunction sent the spacecraft into an uncontrolled spin.

This eventually forced them to separate from the Agena.

Eventually, they regained control of the Gemini craft which then led to an emergency splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Moon landing

Now we come to the most significant journey of Armstrong's life. He along with Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins, blasted off in the Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969.

Their final destination was the Moon.

After a four days journey to reach our closest neighbor, they landed at 4:17 PM US Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

They were guided manually by Armstrong along with the Eagle lunar landing module.

They touched down on a plain near the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquillity. At 10:56 PM EDT on July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped from the Eagle onto the Moon’s dusty surface.

This was the exact point at which Armstrong gave one of the most famous quotes of all time.

“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

According to Armstrong, his excitement made him forget the use of the word "a" in the statement he had come prepared.

Armstrong and Aldrin left the module for more than two hours and deployed scientific instruments, collected surface samples, and took numerous photographs.

After 21 hours and 36 minutes on the moon, they decided to lift off to rendezvous with Collins. Following this, they began their voyage back to Earth.

They eventually splashed down in the Pacific at 12:51 PM EDT on July 24.

The three pioneering astronauts spent 18 days in quarantine to avoid any possible contamination caused by any lunar microbes.

After their 18 days, they spent their time touring 21 nations.

In these tours, they were applauded for their huge step into ushering a new era in the human exploration of the universe.

Later career

Armstrong bid adieu to his home, NASA in the year 1971. After his mission in Apollo 11, Armstrong shielded away from becoming some public figure.

He confined himself to academic and professional endeavors.

From 1971 to 1979 he was a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio). 

He, later on, served as chairman or director for several companies and worked for multiple companies:

a. Computing Technologies for Aviation from 1982 to 1992 and AIL Systems (later EDO Corporation)

b. Maker of electronic equipment for the military(1977 - retirement in 2002)

c. National Commission on Space (NCOS), a panel charged with setting goals for the space program

d. Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, the group appointed in 1986 

Armstrong was given many prestigious awards like the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, the Congressional Space Me