Who Was Neil Armstrong?

The first Apollo mission took place in 1967. Apollo I was crewed by Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. During one of their training exercises, a frayed wire ignited a spark. The three astronauts were strapped inside their command module. When it burst into flames, they were trapped. All three died in the fire. After this tragedy, NASA spent the next two years studying safety for every step of future Apollo missions.

Visual elements of the text: This interlude features illustrations of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.

On the night before the Apollo 11 launch, Charles Lindberg honored the astronauts by having dinner with them. The next morning, Armstrong and the other two astronauts suited up and took a long elevator up to Columbia, the Command Module of their spacecraft. The rocket engine fired and the Apollo 11 craft lifted off on its mission to the moon. The craft consisted of Columbia at the top, the Lunar Module, nicknamed the “Eagle,” underneath this, and then a three-stage Saturn V rocket engine. When the lowest stage of the engine used all of its fuel, it dropped away. The same happened after the second engine used its fuel up. On the fourth morning of the mission, the craft entered the moon’s orbit. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the Eagle and detached it from the craft. They descended to the surface of the moon. Collins stayed aboard Columbia to oversee its continuous orbit around the moon. Just before Eagle touched down, Neil had to take the controls over from the computers guiding it, because the intended landing area was very rocky and he needed to find a safer spot. When the Lunar Module touched down on the surface of the moon, he radioed back to Earth: “The Eagle has landed!” (86)

Visual elements of the text: Chapter 8 features illustrations of Lindberg at dinner with two Apollo 11 astronauts, the Apollo 11 astronauts in their flight suits preparing to board their craft, the launch of the Apollo 11 craft, a diagram of the route the craft took to the moon, the Saturn V dropping one of its engines, Columbia entering the moon’s gravitational field, the Lunar Module departing from the craft, the surface of the moon, and the Eagle touching down on the lunar surface.

As the mission commander, Neil had been chosen to step onto the moon first. He had prepared a message for the people listening back on Earth: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind” (87). The astronauts had a television camera, and people on Earth were able to watch them in their spacesuits walking on the lunar surface. They took photos, collected specimens, and planted an American flag. They left a plaque saying “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind” (91). After two and a half hours, they were nearly out of air in their breathing tanks, so they had to return to the Eagle. They flew back to Columbia and docked. Once they were safely aboard, they set the Eagle free, sending it into the moon’s orbit. They began the journey home.

Visual elements of the text: Chapter 9 features illustrations of Armstrong on the Eagle’s ladder, a diagram of an astronaut’s flight suit, Aldrin and Armstrong planting the American flag on the moon, and a diagram of the Apollo 11 craft’s route back to Earth.

On July 24, Columbia splashed down in the Pacific, just as planned. A military helicopter picked up the three astronauts and took them to a nearby ship where they could rest and recover. They had to quarantine for three weeks, just to make sure they did not bring any germs from the moon to Earth. On August 13, the astronauts and their families attended a huge parade in their honor in New York City. They started on a tour of the world called the “Giant Leap Tour” (98). Because “[Armstrong] had never liked attention,” after this tour he lived a less public life (99). He bought a farm in Ohio and became a college professor. He and Jan divorced, and he later married Carol Held Knight. In the years since Armstrong walked on the moon, ten other NASA astronauts have walked on the moon, but NASA has no current plans for additional moon missions. Neil Armstrong died on August 25, 2012.

Visual elements of the text: Chapter 10 features illustrations of a military helicopter retrieving the astronauts from the ocean, the astronauts riding in a parade, Armstrong in civilian clothes on his Ohio farm, and a head-and-shoulders portrait of Armstrong as an older man.