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Neil Armstrong Papers

Decent Essays

Neil Armstrong, an American Astronaut and Aeronautical engineer, became the first person to step on the moon on July 21, 1969. Neil Armstrong, also is known for his famous quote when stepping on the moon “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Armstrong first discovered his love for space and flight at a young age when his father took him to an air show. After the air show, Armstrong set a goal to become a pilot. He managed to achieve that goal by getting his pilot license at the age of fifteen. Armstrong attended college at Purdue University and earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. Then Armstrong finished getting his masters degree at the University of Southern California. …show more content…

After the military, he became a test pilot, flying over 200 different types of aircraft during his career. Armstrong wanted to try something different and applied to become an astronaut. September of 1962, NASA selected Armstrong and put him through the Astronaut Corps, which were a series of brutal physical tests. After passing all the testing, Armstrong became a part of the “new nine”, the second group of NASA astronauts. Neil Armstrong’s first mission was on the Gemini eight. The Gemini eight’s mission launched on March 16, 1966, and landed on March 17, 1966. Gemini eight’s mission was to conduct the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit. The Gemini eight suffered the first critical in-space system failure of a U.S spacecraft, which threatened the lives of the astronauts on the mission. Neil Armstrong remained calm and managed to return to earth safely, along with saving the life of the astronaut David

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