The biography of Neil Armstrong

He is a former NASA astronaut and the first man to reach the moon during the Apollo
11 mission.

Neil Armstrong was born on August 5th, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

His parents were Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel, from German
origin. His childhood was spent in different locations because his father was an auditor
in the State of Ohio. In this way, Neil Armstrong grew up in Warren, Jefferson, Ravena
and St. Marys, before his family settled in Wapakoneta for good.

Armstrong developed a great interest in flying at the age of two. When was six made
his first flight. From that time, he was fascinated by aviation.

At the age of fifteen, Armstrong began taking flying lessons at an airport in north of
Wapakoneta town. At the age of 16, he was a student pilot. He received his flying
license before graduating from Blume High School in Wapakoneta in 1947.
Armstrong received a grant from the United States Navy. Later he enrolled at Purdue
University and he began studying aeronautical engineering. In 1949 the Navy, he
became an aviator and in 1950 he was sent to the Korean War.

Having enough experience in the Navy, in 1952 Armstrong joined the National
Advisory Committee (NACA). His first task was developed in the Lewis Research
Center near Cleveland, Ohio.
In the next 17 years he worked as an engineer, as a test pilot, as an astronaut and as an
administrator for NACA and its successor agency, NASA.
By mid 1950, Armstrong moved to the Edwards Flight Center of NASA in California,
where he became a research pilot.
Armstrong won a seat as an astronaut in 1962, one of nine the NASA astronauts from
the second group to be elected. For this purpose, he moved to El Lago, Texas, near the
Space Flight Center in Houston, to begin his instruction. The Apollo program achieved
the goal to take the first man on to the moon.
On March 16, 1966 he flew on his first space mission as a commander of Gemini 8 with
David Scott.

Apollo 11
As a commander of Apollo 11, he piloted the first Mission to the Moon, Armstrong won
the distinction of being the first person to reach and walk on the lunar surface. On 16 th
July 1969, Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Adrian their trip to the Moon.
Collins was the Command module pilot. Aldrin, a systems expert, was the lunar module
pilot and became the second human being walking on the Moon. As a commander of
Apollo 11, Armstrong led lunar module and managed a safe landirf on the lunar surface.
At the 2:56:20 on 21 st July 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon and he said the
famous sentence: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind”.
Aldrin and Armstrong were about two hours and a half walking on the Moon, picking
up Samples, making tests and taking photos. On 24 th July 1969, the three men landed
in the Pacific Ocean and were collected by a plane carrier.

The Rewards
The tree Astronauts of Apollo 11 were honored and welcome with a parade in New
York City as soon they came back to the Earth. Armstrong received the Medal of
Freedom, the most important distinction offered to a civilian in the United States. Other
awards received by Armstrong on Finish his Mission are the distinction medal to
NASA’s Exceptional Service, 17 medals from Other Nations and the Honor Medal of
the Space Congress.