Neil Armstrong—the first man on the moon

All Hands, July, 2007 by Margaret Reborchick

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Astronaut Neil Armstrong announced these words upon landing on the surface of the moon July 20, 1969. The moment of touchdown, 4:17:39 P.M. EDT, was one of jubilation for the entire nation.

It marked the achievement of a goal that had seemed so lofty and almost unthinkable in 1961, when President John Kennedy set it. In his speech to Congress on May 25, 1961, he said, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth."

Neil Armstrong was the man chosen to be the commander of NASA's first manned lunar landing mission, Apollo 11. He had a crew of two for this mission, Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot and Mike Collins, command module pilot. On that July day in 1969, when the eyes of the nation, and the entire world, gazed up at the sky and at their televisions, Mike Collins was orbiting the moon in the command module and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were landing on the moon in the lunar module, spending 2.5 hours on its surface. Neil Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module first, making him the first man to walk on the moon.

For Neil Armstrong, this 250,000 mile epic journey to the moon and back began in Wapakoneta, Ohio, where he was born Aug. 5, 1930. Growing up in rural Ohio, Armstrong was an avid reader and model airplane builder, developing a life-long interest in aviation and learning to fly before he had his driver's license. He was also active in the Boy Scouts and reached the rank of Eagle Scout.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1955 from Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind. To pay his tuition, he participated in the Holloway Plan, where his four college years were split by three years' service in the U.S. Navy. He served in the Navy from 1949 to 1952 and was assigned to Navy Fighter Squadron (VF) 51, an all-jet squadron.

He, along with his squadron, set sail for Korea aboard USS Essex (CV 9). During the Korean War, he flew a total of 78 missions, amassed 121 flight hours and reached the rank of lieutenant junior grade. After earning his degree, Armstrong became an experimental test pilot at the High-Speed Flight Station, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and flew many of the early high-speed aircraft.

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Armstrong joined NASA as an astronaut in 1962, and in March of 1966, served as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. During this mission, he was the first to successfully dock two vehicles in space. After the Apollo 11 mission, he decided not to fly in space again and in 1971 resigned from NASA and returned to Ohio to pursue a career in teaching and lecturing.

To learn more, read James R. Hansen's authorized biography, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.

Reborchick is a photojournalist assigned to Naval Media Center, Washington, D.C.

Story by MCC Margaret Reborchick