Page 88 - April-May 2020 Neat

88 How Neil Armstrong Changed History
The Full Story Of How
Neil Armstrong Changed
History When He Walked
On The Moon
Continued from Page 87
Rumors that Armstrong became a recluse after
the Apollo 11 mission are not entirely accurate.
Although he tended to remove himself from the
spotlight, Armstrong participated in the world
tour the crew embarked on after the historic
event, and he continued to attend and speak at
events held in remembrance of the moon landing
in the following years. Not taking advantage of
his fame, Armstrong maintained his interest in
aeronautics by working as an administrator at
NASA, teaching aerospace engineering at the
University of Cincinnati, and serving on a
commission to determine what went wrong in
the Challenger explosion.
Armstrong Secretly Kept Souvenirs
From The Apollo 11 Mission
As much as he didn't enjoy giving interviews or
speaking about his thoughts and emotions
during the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong
must have felt hidden nostalgia about his time
on the moon. After he died in 2012, his wife
found a bag in their closet filled with parts from
the lunar module and other small tools used on
the mission, presumably kept as souvenirs.
Experts identified it as Armstrong's McDivitt
purse - a white bag crews take into space to store
small parts and other loose items they might
need.
Armstrong's bag included an emergency
wrench, utility lights, the data acquisition
camera, and his waist tether. It wasn't a secret
that he took these items; he had to bring them
back aboard the command module and inform
Mission Control of the bag's presence. But for
reasons unknown, Armstrong never mentioned
to anyone he had collected and kept the
souvenirs.
The World Remembers Armstrong's
'One Small Step' Quote Incorrectly,
Thanks To Radio Static
Although Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were
scheduled to sleep once the lunar module landed Neil A. Armstrong. "I have always said that
safely on the moon, they were understandably
too excited for napping. About six and a half
hours after the craft landed and all safety checks Armstrong Was More Committed To
were complete, Armstrong pushed open the
door, made his way down the ladder, and set foot
on the moon for the first time in the history of Equipment Than Enjoying Their
humanity. He spoke a line remembered to the
world as "That's one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind." Unfortunately, history Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent two
may have gotten it wrong.
Fierce debates over whether Armstrong
said "a man" began soon after. It's possible he the work they needed to do. Armstrong's strong
misspoke in his excitement or the radio
transmission cut the word out, but Armstrong
was so opposed to being remembered as a hero,
he refused to clarify what he said. However, one men spent most of their time setting up
researcher used modern technology to analyze experiments, speaking with President Richard
the recording in 2006 and claims their findings Nixon, planting a flag, and collecting almost 50
prove Armstrong did say "a man." pounds of moon rocks and other surface
material.
Armstrong Stopped Giving Out "There was work to do. The checklists
Autographs When He Discovered They were all over us. We weren't there to meditate,"
remembered Armstrong. Although he made
Were Being Sold
history and went to a place only 12 other people
have visited, Armstrong's overwhelming desire
Neil Armstrong refused to become a celebrity
to complete his mission took priority over
and avoided anything that might shine a focus
everything.
on his personal life. He allowed NASA to use
him as a promotional asset for a brief period
Armstrong Was So Obsessed With
after the Apollo 11 mission, but then left the
Flying That He Earned His Pilot's
space program. Armstrong would retreat every
time someone invaded his personal space. He License Before Learning How To Drive
was even forced to get his hair cut at home after
he caught his barber saving and selling his hair. Born in Ohio in 1930, Neil Armstrong
Despite his tendency to avoid the developed a love of flying at a young age after
spotlight, Armstrong was happy to sign watching air races and reading about the Wright
autographs for fans and charity fundraising brothers' historic accomplishments. He built
events up until 2003. He allegedly realized balsa wood airplane models, teaching himself
people were selling the signed items on eBay about flight engineering and mechanics at the
and refused to contribute anymore. same time. Armstrong worked odd jobs around
town to pay for $9-per-hour flight lessons and
All But One Of The Pictures From The received his pilot's license at age 16 before he
Apollo 11 Mission Are Of Buzz Aldrin, learned to drive a car.
Not Neil Armstrong Armstrong's love of flight propelled him
to study aeronautical engineering in college, fly
missions for the US military in Korea, and test
The memorable photo you see above is not Neil
aircraft for the National Advisory Committee for
Armstrong, but rather Buzz Aldrin with a tiny Aeronautics, the organization that eventually
reflection of Armstrong in his visor. In fact, of
became NASA. Armstrong's wealth of
all the photographs taken during the historic
experience earned him respect from other
moonwalk, only one features the first man to set
members of the air and newly forming space
foot on its surface. Although you can see
exploration communities, making him a well-
Armstrong in grainy footage descending the qualified space mission commander.
module ladder thanks to an exterior camera,
Although he piloted more than 200
Aldrin failed to take photos of Armstrong. The
different aircraft in his career, Armstrong
only image committed to history of Armstrong
thought of himself as an engineer who liked to
on the moon is a landscape shot featuring a tiny
solve problems above all else. "I really enjoyed
astronaut in the corner removing equipment the opportunity to contribute to in some way to
from the module, his back to the camera.
the solution of problems," he once said. "The
Although some accused him of
history of humanity has been [about] slowly
bitterness over being No. 2, Aldrin claimed the
increasing the boundaries of knowledge - at the
lack of Armstrong photographs was not his fault.
edges, it is always a challenge."
He said Armstrong held the camera for most of
the two and a half hours they spent on the moon,
Armstrong's Footprints Still Mark The
never asking for a photograph of himself. Since
Moon's Surface
they had so many tasks to complete, it was not a
priority. Aldrin later asserted in an
autobiography that he regretted not thinking to Placed during the Apollo 11 mission, a plaque
snap a shot of Armstrong, but being such a on the moon's surface reads, "Here men from the
humble, good-natured guy, Armstrong never planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July
held it against him. "I don't think Buzz had any 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."
reason to take my picture, and it never occurred However, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin also
to me that he should," Armstrong recalled in left a few other permanent reminders of their
James R. Hansen's book First Man: The Life of visit. Aldrin took the famous footprint
photograph seen above, featuring Aldrin's boot
Buzz was the far more photogenic of the crew." imprint, to show the nature of the moon's surface
and the effects of pressure on its dust layer.
This footprint, as well as any footprints
the men left while walking around conducting
The Mission And Setting Up Research
their research, is still there more than 45 years
later. Since the moon has no atmosphere and all
Historic Feat
its water is frozen, there is no wind to move the
dust or cause erosion. It's also why the American
flag the two men planted stood stiffly by design,
hours and 36 minutes walking on the surface of so it would be viewable in the absence of wind.
the moon, but any celebration was secondary to []
work ethic and commitment to a goal bigger
than himself assured that. He found a few Do you have an idea for a radio show?
moments to take pictures of Aldrin, but the two We would love to hear about it.
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