00:30The date was July 20, 1969, and the United States was looking to win the race to the
00:44moon. To be first to set foot on another planetary body was the commander of the Apollo 11 flight,
00:54Neil Armstrong, a civilian, a pilot, and an engineer. Inspired by his first flight at
01:02the age of six, Armstrong attended Purdue University, studying aeronautical engineering.
01:10He wasn't there long. In 1949, the U.S. Navy called him to active duty as an aviator. The
01:17hostility of the Korean conflict was where Armstrong displayed a high degree of coolness
01:21under fire and a calm, methodical mind able to function under extreme conditions. Armstrong
01:29continued to fly until 1952. With a total of 78 missions and a chest full of medals,
01:35he returned to the United States and completed his bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering.
01:40With his love of flying and an analytical mind, he was well qualified to become a civilian test
01:49pilot at the Dryden Flight Research Center at the now famous Edwards Air Force Base.
01:53Test piloting was not known for its safe work environment, however, and Armstrong,
02:01like so many other test pilots, had several very close calls, but he still hungered to
02:06become an astronaut. Armstrong applied for the second intake of astronauts,
02:13but his application arrived late. Technically, he'd missed out, but several people at NASA who
02:19knew Armstrong well were very keen to have him on board. Somehow, his application found its way
02:26to the appropriate desk at NASA, and he went on to make a successful transition from test pilot
02:32to astronaut. On March the 16th, 1966, Gemini 8 was launched, and the race for the moon was on.
02:45The mission went flawlessly, and Armstrong performed the first successful docking of
02:52two vehicles in space, but an unforeseen condition caused the combined spacecraft
02:57to spin out of control. Thanks to Armstrong's coolness under pressure, the astronauts managed
03:03to undock the vehicles, then use their re-entry thrusters to stabilize the craft.
03:13As a result of the normal astronaut rotation policy, Armstrong was placed into the commander's
03:18seat of Apollo 11. Armstrong and his two crewmates, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins,
03:26began an intense period of training. This included the lunar landing simulator called
03:32the Flying Bedstead, which looked anything but a stable machine.
03:41The mission was launched on July 16, 1969, just inside the decade declared by President
03:47Kennedy as the mission goal. The entire flight was textbook perfect.
03:57On the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin carried out their assigned tasks. They'd stay
04:03on the surface a brief 21 and a half hours. The crew of Apollo 11 returned to the Earth
04:10as conquering heroes. Armstrong participated in a grueling schedule in the ensuing years,
04:16always with an emphasis on the NASA space program. In 1991, while skiing with friends
04:22in Aspen, Colorado, he suffered a minor heart attack. Armstrong now lives quietly near Lebanon,
04:29Ohio, with his second wife. His name, a byword for adventure and exploration.
04:523...2...1...
Comments