Who Was Neil Armstrong?

“What if Apollo 11 makes it to the moon but then can’t get back to Earth?…So many things could go wrong.”

Both a rhetorical question and an ellipsis are used to heighten tension around the imminent blastoff of the Apollo craft. Edwards utilizes such rhetorical devices more in the book’s introduction to establish the emotional tone and suspense of the narrative in contrast with the more straightforward, educational tone of the chapters that follow.

“Only three years before Neil was born, in 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew nonstop across the Atlantic.”

Stressing how proximate Armstrong’s birth was to Lindbergh’s famous transatlantic flight contextualizes Armstrong within the history of flight. It also ties him rhetorically to Lindbergh, helping to support the book’s thematic arguments about The Significance of Teamwork and Collaboration in Large-Scale Endeavors.

“From the time he was a little boy, Neil was fascinated by airplanes and flying.”

Here, Edwards introduces a key thematic premise of her narrative—The Role of Curiosity and Passion in Driving Scientific and Personal Advancement. She establishes that Armstrong’s passion for flight began in his earliest years, allowing her to demonstrate that, by the time he entered NASA’s astronaut program, he had already devoted decades to learning more and more about flying.

“Later on, Neil’s father confessed that he had been ‘scared to death.’ As for Neil, he had enjoyed every minute.”

Part of Edwards’s characterization of Armstrong centers his courage and heroism. The detail of his father’s reaction to flying on the Tin Goose reinforces six-year-old Neil’s courage by contrast. It also reiterates how much love Armstrong has for flying, even as a child.

“But in 1903, when Wilbur was thirty-six and Orville was thirty-two, they did something amazing, something that people had dreamed of doing for thousands of years.”

Edwards’s discussion of the Wright Brothers demonstrates the more emotional tone and complex sentence structure typical of the text’s interludes. Diction like “amazing” and “dreamed of” and details like “for thousands of years” create a sense of awe, helping to demonstrate the importance of their achievement.

“Neil was determined to fly. […] He mowed the lawn at a cemetery. He helped bake doughnuts at a doughnut company—more than 1,300 a night.”

Edwards pairs a clear, succinct sentence structure—“Neil was determined to fly”—with specificity of detail about Armstrong’s life outside of flying to underscore his dedication. The specific number of “1,300” doughnuts a night reinforces how hard he was willing to work to make his dream come true.

“Charles (Chuck) Yeager also loved flying.”

The first sentence of the interlude devoted to Yeager stresses his similarity to Armstrong. Their shared passion for flight situates Armstrong within a long line of pioneers in the field and reinforces the book’s thematic emphasis on passion and curiosity as integrally important to scientific and technological advancement.

“It was a dangerous and stressful job. But Neil Armstrong never lost his cool.”

In her discussion of Armstrong’s service in the Korean War, Edwards stresses his calm under pressure and his courage—traits that also serve him well as an astronaut. His military history also serves to reinforce the text’s portrait of Armstrong as an American hero.

“This meant that Jan had to leave Purdue without finishing her degree. But Neil’s career came first.”

The prioritization of a man’s career over his wife’s was common in heterosexual couples of the Armstrong’s social class in this era. Edwards includes these details to create her portrait of Armstrong as the archetypical white, middle-class man of his time. The fact  that Armstrong’s career always “come[s] first” in their marriage, also underscores his dedication and passion for his work.

“Neil said, ‘We were using airplanes as tools to gather all kinds of information, just as an astronomer uses a telescope as a tool.’”

Armstrong’s comparison of planes to the telescopes used by astronomers creates an analogy that positions himself and the other pilots in the role of scientists. This comparison implicitly points to the existence of a larger team, working together to compile information in the service of a common goal—Armstrong’s flights are not just about his personal passion for flying, they represent a collective effort to achieve scientific and technological advancement.

“In the United States, Shepard was given a hero’s welcome upon his safe return. But in the history books, he would always remain the second human being in space. Not the first.”

The significance of being “first” is emphasized by the abruptness of the sentence fragment at the end of this passage. It conveys a tone of defeat and disappointment around the idea of being second, adding stakes and tension to Edwards portrayal of the U.S.’s determination to become the first to put an astronaut on the moon.

“The United States saw that the U.S.S.R. hoped to gain control of other countries in different parts of the world. That would make the U.S.S.R. too powerful.”

Edwards’s perspective on the Cold War represents an American lens, omitting the corresponding Soviet perspective regarding the U.S.’s accumulation of power. This perspective is in keeping with the text’s aim to profile an American hero. It also emphasizes the importance of the U.S. coming out on top in the Space Race.

“As a test pilot, he was used to flying planes all by himself, being in charge, and making all the decisions during a flight. As an astronaut, he would be inside a spacecraft guided mainly by automatic controls.”

Edwards’s discussion of Armstrong’s decision-making process and his application to become an astronaut acknowledges the evolution of his goals.

“All their neighbors were in the space program, too. There were lots of backyard barbecues with the other astronaut families.”

Here, Edwards emphasizes the community the Armstrongs found in their neighborhood to demonstrate that the shared sense of identity, purpose, and investment the astronauts and the rest of the NASA team felt in their endeavor also extended to their families, who provided support for each other outside of the job.

“They ate whatever they could find—even if that meant bugs, roots, and worms!”

Edwards uses a rare exclamation point when describing what Armstrong and other astronauts ate during their training in the jungle to emphasize the lengths to which they went to be prepared for their mission. Edwards’s punctuation choice signals the detail as shocking, increasing its entertainment value and underscoring the Importance of perseverance and dedication in achieving one’s goals.

“The house was hot, very hot”

One of the text’s few uses of diacope—the rhetorical use of a repeated word or phrase—occurs in this description of the Armstrong house on the night of the fire. The repetition emphasizes the heat and danger without using graphic or loaded language, keeping the content of the passage appropriate for younger readers while still increasing tension.

“Afterward, Neil was very depressed about not completing the mission.”

This detail regarding Armstrong’s reaction to the aborted Gemini 8 mission both humanizes Armstrong and highlights the challenges and setbacks NASA faced in their attempts to achieve their goal. It shows how disappointed he is in not achieving all of the mission’s objectives even after he is responsible for heroically saving everyone aboard the Gemini 8 craft.

“The public sometimes lost sight of the risks involved in the space program. The astronauts and scientists at NASA, however, never did.”

The contrast drawn between public understanding of the space program and the understanding of those directly involved further reinforces scope and scale of the moon landing endeavor—even though the NASA team knows exactly how dangerous the work is, they persist in getting it done. By highlighting the disconnect between public perception and reality, Edwards re-emphasizes the myriad people on the NASA team responsible for Armstrong’s achievement.

“This was the plan…but would it work?”

As the narrative draws closer to the actual launch of the Apollo 11 mission, Edwards uses several literary techniques to increase tension. The ellipsis and the rhetorical question that end Chapter 7 convey a tone of doubt about the carefully planned mission’s success, emphasizing the safety risks taken by Armstrong and his crew.

“Neil and Buzz would be left stranded on the moon forever.”

Edwards increases tension by explicitly outlining the stakes of an imperfect landing on the lunar surface. Diction like “stranded” and “forever” underscores the dramatic stakes of this moment. Understanding these stakes escalates the tension in the following passage when Armstrong takes over from the flight computer to find an alternative landing spot.

“The Eagle has landed!”

Armstrong’s famous announcement to the Houston team as the lunar module sets down on the surface of the moon provides a familiar historical touchtone for Armstrong’s narrative. The well-known words ground Edwards’s narrative retelling of the moon landing in the history of space exploration.

“That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”

Armstrong’s famous speech as he took his first steps onto the lunar surface have been immortalized in American history. The wording and precise meaning of this quote has also been the subject of debate, and biographers differ in their accounting of how much time Armstrong devoted to crafting the phrase.

“We came in peace for all mankind.”

Despite the context of the Cold War and the Space Race, the final sentence written on the plaque the astronauts left on the moon centers the progress the moon landing represented for human beings as a species rather than its political significance for the United States as a nation. Edwards’s emphasis on this sentiment supports the narrative’s thematic interest in the significance of teamwork and collaboration in large-scale endeavors.