Famous person of USA:
Neil Armstrong – the first man, who stepped on
the Moon
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (1930 –2012) was an American Astronaut
and aeronautical engineer, and the first person to walk on the Moon.
He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university
professor.
Early years
Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, near Wapakoneta, Ohio,
the son of Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel.
He was of German, Irish and Scottish ancestry, and had a younger
sister, June, and a younger brother, Dean.
His father worked as an auditor for the Ohio state
government, and the family moved around the state repeatedly,
living in 20 towns.
Korean War
On August 29, 1951, Armstrong saw action in the Korean War as an
escort for a photo reconnaissance plane over Songjin.
Five days later, on September 3, he flew armed reconnaissance
over the primary transportation and storage facilities south of the
village of Majon-ni, west of Wonsan.
While making a low bombing run at
about 350 mph (560 km/h),
Armstrong's F9F Panther was hit
by anti-aircraft fire.
While trying to regain control, he
collided with a pole at a height of
about 20 feet (6 m), which sliced off
about 3 feet (1 m) of the Panther's
right wing.
Korean War
Armstrong flew the plane back to friendly territory, but due to
the loss of the aileron, ejection was his only safe option.
Planning to eject over water and await rescue by Navy
helicopters, he flew to an airfield near Pohang, but his parachute
was blown back over land.
A jeep driven by a roommate from flight school picked
Armstrong up; it is unknown what happened to the wreckage of
his aircraft, F9F-2
Astronaut career
In June 1958, Armstrong was selected for the U.S. Air Force's Man In Space
Soonest program, but the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)
cancelled its funding on August 1, 1958, and on November 5, 1958, it was
superseded by Project Mercury, a civilian project run by NASA.
Ironically, as a NASA civilian test pilot, Armstrong was ineligible to
become one of its astronauts at this time, as selection was restricted to
military test pilots.
In November 1960, he was chosen as part of the pilot consultant group
for the X-20 Dyna-Soar, a military space plane under development by
Boeing for the U.S. Air Force, and on March 15, 1962, he was selected by
the U.S. Air Force as one of seven pilot-engineers who would fly the X-20
when it got off the design board.
Voyage to the Moon
The objective of Apollo 11 was to land safely rather than to touch down
with precision on a particular spot.
Three minutes into the
lunar descent burn,
Armstrong noted that
craters were passing about
two seconds too early,
which meant the
LM Eagle would probably
touch down beyond the
planned landing zone by
several miles.
As the Eagle's
landing radar acquired the
surface, several computer
error alarms appeared.
The landing on the surface of the Moon occurred several seconds after
[Link] UTC on July 20, 1969, at which time one of three 67-inch
(170 cm) probes attached to three of the Lunar Module's four legs
made contact with the surface, a panel light inside the LM lit up, and
Aldrin called out, "Contact light."
"That's one small step for a man, one giant
leap for mankind."
Although the official NASA flight plan
called for a crew rest period before
extravehicular activity, Armstrong
requested that the EVA be moved to Once Armstrong and Aldrin were
earlier in the evening, Houston time. ready to go outside, Eagle was
depressurized, the hatch was opened
and Armstrong made his way down
the ladder first. At the bottom of the
ladder Armstrong said, "I'm going to
step off the LM now".
He then turned and set his left boot
on the lunar surface at 02:56 UTC July
21, 1969, then spoke the now-famous
words, "That's one small step for a
man, one giant leap for mankind."
Consperological theory
Despite this, there are also conspiracy
theories according to which Armstrong
and Aldrin were not on the Moon, and all
the photos and videos were staged by
NASA and Hollywood.
Return to Earth
After they re-entered the LM, the hatch was closed and sealed.
While preparing for the liftoff from the
lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin
discovered that, in their bulky
spacesuits, they had broken the
ignition switch for the ascent engine;
using part of a pen, they pushed the
circuit breaker in to activate the
launch sequence.
Columbia, the Command and Service
Module
The Eagle then continued to its
rendezvous in lunar orbit, where it
docked with Columbia, the Command
and Service Module. The three
astronauts returned to Earth and
splashed down in the Pacific Ocean,
USS Hornet to be picked up by the USS Hornet.
