Legendary man Neil Alden Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, USA, on August 5, 1930. From his parents, Neil inherited character traits such as modesty and determination, as well as an explosive mixture of German, Scottish and Irish blood.
Many years later, in 1972, the astronaut visited the land of his ancestors, in the city of Langholm, in Scotland, where he was officially awarded the title of honorary citizen, as an outstanding descendant of the Armstrong clan.
The future space conqueror had younger brothers and sisters: Dean and June. While Neil was a child, the family moved frequently because his father served as an auditor for the US government. Before settling in Ohio in 1944, the Armstrongs lived in 20 cities. Neal graduated from high school in Wapakoneta.
The boy's main hobbies were airplanes and membership in the Boy Scouts club. In both directions, the student achieved significant success: within the framework of the Boy Scout movement, the boy received the highest rank of Eagle Scout, and a pilot's license from the city aviation school - previously a driver's license. Thus, the future astronaut became a professional pilot at the age of 16, and from that moment his biography was inextricably linked with the sky.
In 1947, the young man entered Purdue University, where he studied aeronautical engineering and industry. The guy's grades were average, and his college education was paid for by the state in exchange for an obligation to serve three years in the army. After the army, Armstrong returned to university, where he studied for another two years.
Neil Armstrong's military conscription coincided with the Korean War. Neal's first jet flight occurred in 1949, and he flew as many as 78 missions during the war effort from 1949 to 1952. At that time, Neil was a fighter-bomber pilot and was shot down by enemy forces in one of the operations.
For his military services, Armstrong was awarded three honorary awards. In 1952, Neal joined the US Navy as a test pilot.
NASA
Neil Armstrong's path from pilot to astronaut, who became a hero of all mankind, was long and included the following stages:
- in 1956, Armstrong transferred to the NASA High Speed Flight Research Station, where he tested the latest aircraft;
- From June to August 1958, he tested as an astronaut under the Air Force's MISS program;
- from October 1958, Armstrong was part of a group of pilots making experimental flights on the X-15 rocket plane; from 1960 to 1962, he made only 7 flights, but never reached the border with space;
- In 1960, Neil Armstrong was named to the second group of astronauts selected by NASA from a pool of 250 candidates.
Pilot Neil Armstrong In 1966, as commander of Gemini 8, Neil Armstrong traveled to space for the first time. Due to malfunctions, most of the flight goals were never achieved, but the astronauts completed the main task, which was docking with the Agena rocket.
Flight and landing on the Moon
On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched from the Cape Canaveral launch site under the command of Armstrong. Along with the commander on board the starship were Michael Collins, pilot of the Columbia module, and Edwin Aldrin, also known as Buzz Aldrin, pilot of the Eagle module.
After one hundred and three hours of flight in orbit of the Moon, the landing module with Aldrin and Armstrong on board was disconnected, which soon successfully landed on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Before landing on the surface, an emergency situation occurred: the pressure building in the ship’s fuel line almost led to an explosion. After troubleshooting, the astronauts opened the hatch.
Neil Armstrong was the first to leave the spaceship, and his colleague was filming this historical moment. At the same time, the captain of Apollo 11 uttered the famous phrase, which was heard live in communication with the Earth:
"It's one small step for a man, but one giant leap for all mankind."
The astronauts stayed on the surface of the satellite for 2.5 hours, collecting soil samples, leaving a capsule with messages in 74 earthly languages and planting the US flag. They took many historical photos and videos, documenting the fact of man's presence on the Moon.
Subsequently, when listening to and transcribing the recordings made by the astronauts, researchers and scientists have repeatedly asked the question, what exactly did Neil Armstrong say when his foot touched the lunar soil? In addition to the well-known phrase on the tape, one could hear the words: “Good luck, Mr. Gorski!”
Armstrong was repeatedly asked about this mysterious man in numerous interviews, but he only remained silent. And only many years later, the astronaut said that the mysterious Gorski was his neighbor when Neil himself was still a boy. Running to the neighbor's property to get the ball, he accidentally overheard the Gorski couple talking in an intimate moment. Madame Gorski refused her husband’s one frank request, saying that she would satisfy it “when the neighbor’s boy is running on the moon.” In the end, her words turned out to be prophetic.
The Apollo 11 crew landed safely on July 24, 1969, although the departure from the Moon was not without some unpleasant incidents. Returning to the lander, the astronauts discovered that the engine start button was damaged. The situation was critical, since help from Earth obviously would not have arrived in time for the Moon within the three days available to the crew. Miraculously, the engine was able to start, and the first manned flight to the Moon ended in complete triumph.
Visit to the USSR
In May 1970, Armstrong visited Leningrad as part of a NASA delegation. The famous astronaut’s visit to the USSR did not end there. After the Leningrad conference, NASA representatives went to Moscow.
According to Armstrong’s recollections, the meeting with the Muscovites went much warmer, but most of all he remembered his acquaintance with the widows of Soviet cosmonauts: the spouses of Vladimir Komarov. During an official meeting with representatives of the country's leadership, Neil Armstrong presented the Chairman of the Council of Ministers with samples of lunar soil and a miniature flag of the USSR that had been on the Moon.
Lunar landing: myth or reality?
Both during Armstrong’s life and after his death, there were many legends about him and the legendary flight to the moon. So, for some time there was a theory that after what he saw on the satellite, the astronaut converted to Islam and became a Muslim. This legend has no basis, except for the similarity of geographical names - Lebanon in the USA and the Muslim country of the same name.
Heated debate surrounded numerous statements by journalists and “researchers” that Neil Armstrong did not go to the moon. Several books and numerous articles have been published, and several films have been made, debunking the myth of the presence of American astronauts on the Moon. One of the versions said that the documentary filming of the flight was faked by the famous, and all the footage was filmed in the pavilion.
As a result, these publications turned out to be falsifications, and the books and films turned out to be fiction. Even Soviet cosmonauts confirmed the presence of the Apollo team on the Moon, noting that some shots could well have been taken on Earth - for “clarification.”
Personal life
The astronaut’s personal life developed quite smoothly. Despite regular training and flying, Neil Armstrong was married twice. Neil met his first wife, Janet Sharon, after returning to university, and their wedding took place in 1956. At the same time, Janet was forced to leave her studies and take up housekeeping, which she later regretted.
The couple had three children: sons Eric and Mark and daughter Karen, who died at the age of two from a brain tumor.
In 1994, Neil divorced Janet and married Carol Knight, with whom he lived until 2012.
Death
The cause of death of the famous astronaut, who retired from NASA in the 70s, taught at the university and was engaged in business, was postoperative complications.
According to US Navy tradition, the astronaut's ashes were scattered over the Atlantic Ocean during the funeral.
On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to ever walk on the surface of the Moon. At that moment, he uttered his famous phrase: “A small step for a man, but a giant leap for all mankind.”
Photo report about the first man on the moon.
Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta in the US state of Ohio. (Photo by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center | Handout):
Most of his life was connected with flying machines. During high school, Neil attended flight school and received his pilot's license before he received his driver's license.
In the photo: the Apollo 11 crew: astronaut Neil Armstrong (left), who was the commander of this mission, lunar module pilot Edwin Buzz Aldrin (right) and Michael Collins, who piloted the command module on the Moon during Armstrong and Aldrin's landing on the Moon. orbit. May 1, 1969. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):
Neil Armstrong soon joined the US Navy as a test pilot. He tested jet aircraft and served in the Korean War, during which he flew 78 combat missions in the Grumman F9F Panther fighter-bomber and was shot down once. (Photo by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center | Handout | Reuters):
Neil Armstrong stood out among other test pilots for his exceptional endurance and composure, for which he received the nickname “Ice Captain.” (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):
In 1947, the future astronaut began studying the aviation industry at the University. In total, over the years, Neil has tested over 200 models of airplanes, helicopters and gliders.
In the photo: Neil Armstrong at the space center:
In 1958, Armstrong was enrolled in a group of pilots preparing to fly the experimental North American X-15 rocket plane. In total, until July 1962, he made 7 flights on these devices, but never reached the mark of 50 miles (80 km), which was considered the limit of space by the US Air Force.
In the photo: Neil Armstrong undergoes training in the lunar module that will be used to descend to the surface of the Moon, 1969:
In September 1962, Neil Armstrong passed a competition of 250 applicants and was accepted into NASA's astronaut class. From that moment on, he began to prepare for a flight into space...
Photo: The Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 11 spacecraft on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center before liftoff to the Moon, July 1, 1969. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):
In 1966, Neil Armstrong made his first space flight as commander of the Gemini 8 spacecraft. During this flight, he and astronaut David Scott performed the first docking of two spacecraft. True, this flight was interrupted ahead of schedule due to a serious malfunction in the ship's attitude control engine system.
In the photo: the launch of the rocket with the Apollo 11 spacecraft, July 16, 1969. The lunar mission has begun. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):
There was an intense space race with the Soviet Union. This was the Americans' response to. On July 20, 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 landed on the Earth's natural satellite, the Moon.
Photo: Neil Armstrong on the surface of the Moon, July 20, 1969. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):
It was Neil Armstrong who became the first person to set foot on the surface of the Moon, and his phrase “A small step for a man, but a giant leap for all mankind” spread throughout the world in a matter of minutes and entered the history of world astronautics.
In the photo: American astronaut Neil Armstrong next to the landing module on the surface of the Moon. (Photo by Edwin Aldrin-NASA | Handout | Reuters):
Armstrong and his partner Edwin Aldrin spent 2.5 hours on the Moon. They photographed the landscape, installed equipment on the lunar surface with which the distance to the Earth was measured with high accuracy, and also collected more than 20 kg of soil samples. On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew returned to Earth.
In the photo: Lunar module pilot Edwin Buzz Aldrin installs equipment on the surface of the Moon. The lunar module is also visible in the back of the frame, July 20, 1969:
The landing stage of the lunar module remained on the Moon with a sign: “Here people from planet Earth first set foot on the Moon. July 1969 AD. We come in peace on behalf of all humanity." One of the lunar craters is named after Neil Armstrong.
Meanwhile, some researchers call the American landing on the moon the biggest hoax of the 20th century. In their opinion, there is a number of irrefutable evidence that American astronauts did not land on the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite at all. You can find a lot of materials on this topic on the Internet.
Photo: Astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin descends from the lunar module to the surface of the Moon, July 20, 1969:
Almost a year after the flight to the moon, in May-June 1970, Neil Armstrong came to us in . On May 20-27, 1970, as part of a delegation of NASA scientific specialists, he took part in the XIII annual conference of the Space Research Committee in Leningrad. Neil gave a big talk about the first landing of people on the Moon and his impressions of staying and working on the lunar surface.
In the photo: after spending 2.5 hours on the surface of the Moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin return to the spacecraft on the lunar module, July 20, 1969:
Photo: Neil Armstrong inside the lunar module during his return from the Moon to the spacecraft, July 20, 1969. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):
During the forum in Leningrad, security experienced great difficulty in restraining those who wanted to express their admiration for Armstrong. The Associated Press wrote that it was an exciting and very unusual reception, which foreign guests rarely receive in the Soviet Union. At the same time, the general public knew almost nothing about the astronaut’s visit...
Neil Armstrong and Valentina Tereshkova against the backdrop of a portrait of Yuri Gagarin, June 1970:
In 1971, Armstrong left NASA and taught at the University of Cincinnati in the engineering department until 1979. From 1985 to 1986 he was a member of the National Cosmonautics Committee.
In the photo: Neil Armstrong in our “Star City”, 1970:
In 1986, Neil became vice-chairman of the commission of inquiry that examined the circumstances.
Pictured: Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Buzz Aldrin (right) and Michael Collins (left) 30 years after the historic mission to the moon, July 21, 1999. (Photo by Jamal Wilson | Files | Reuters):
Recently, former astronaut Neil Armstrong lived in a suburb of Cincinnati and led a secluded lifestyle, although from time to time he criticized the American space program.
In the photo: Edwin Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and US President Barack Obama, July 20, 2009:
In particular, in 2010, he criticized Barack Obama's rejection of the Constellation program, which was supposed to create new space technology and infrastructure that would allow flights to the Moon and Mars. Then the US President considered this project too expensive.
In 2011, Armstrong told Esquire magazine: “Astronauts don’t die on Saturdays. At least I don’t know of a single case.”
First man on the moon, astronaut Neil Armstrong died on Saturday, August 25, 2012 in the United States at the age of 82 due to complications from heart surgery three weeks ago.
“A small step for a man, but a giant leap for all mankind.” (NASA Photo | Handout | Rueters):
Damien Chazelle created a completely indescribable picture. If you try to retell it, you will definitely lie. Here, for example: “The director of La La Land made a film about Neil Armstrong, the man who first walked on the moon.” Formally, everything is correct, you can’t complain, but from such an annotation you immediately imagine a story about a blue Chazelle night and a curly-haired boy who looks at the huge moon, where in the end, after overcoming many obstacles and making friends with wonderful people, he will definitely end up. Perhaps it would have been a wonderful film, but, unfortunately, no one made it. There is nothing in Chazelle's film that one would expect. There is no “La La Land”, no desire for a dream, no story of achievement, no brotherhood of astronauts, no romance of space flights. I really want to write that in “Man on the Moon” there is neither a man nor the Moon, but the Moon is still there, even in a homeopathic dosage. But it’s really almost impossible to see a person on it.
The point here is partly to do with Neil Armstrong himself, a man who is actually a very closed and unemotional person, who after returning to Earth became practically a hermit. James Hansen, the author of the book on which the film is based, wrote a hefty volume about America's most famous astronaut, full of technical details and stories about his neighbors and relatives, but it is very difficult to understand what was going on in Armstrong's head and soul. Chazelle took perhaps the most obvious and indisputable fact - the death of his daughter, after which Neil seemed to find himself in an airless space. “Man on the Moon” begins with Armstrong testing a rocket plane and, having flown out of the boundaries of gravity, cannot return back, bouncing off the atmosphere like a fly hitting glass. It all looks painful, and in general the entire film gives the viewer a feeling of constant discomfort: the roar of the engines and the twitching camera of Linus Sandgren makes him feel almost physically ill. Relief comes only in those moments when silence suddenly sets in and the expanse of clear and empty sky opens up. And the main thing in “Man on the Moon” is precisely these pauses, emphasized by the clang of pepelats, on which people stormed space in the 60s.
This film could be called “Neil Armstrong and the Void” or even “Void and Emptiness”: the astronaut’s soul is also quiet and empty. Ryan Gosling plays neither a dreamer nor an obsessive man this time. His hero strives into space, it seems, only because this is required by the vacuum that has arisen inside him: one void strives for another, so that the atmospheric column does not press so much, in order to somehow equalize the pressure. Armstrong doesn’t need the Moon itself—at an interview with NASA, he says something judicious and senseless about the goals of the flight—just as no one, it seems, needs it at all: all over America, demonstrators are demanding that the money allocated to the space agency be spent on something... something healthy and edible. The astronauts also don’t look too much like romantics who dream of leaving a legacy on the dusty paths of distant planets, and there is no kind of cosmic brotherhood in the film: the crew of Apollo 11 was selected almost at random, and the participants in the flight do not seem to have any affection for each other warm feelings. From time to time, Armstrong tries to get closer to one of his colleagues and reluctantly even drinks canned beer with them, but the people to whom he is almost ready to open his soul die one after another, so that there is almost nothing keeping him on Earth.
Neil, however, has a family: a quiet but unbending wife played by Claire Foy and two sons, but he doesn’t really understand how to behave with them or what to talk about. At least, when Janet forcibly drags him into the kitchen so that Armstrong can say goodbye to the children before the flight, he mumbles something inaudible, wishing to be left alone. Gosling's character seems to make all social movements as if through force, and even pronounces his famous phrase about steps on the moon without any expression - just to get rid of it. And the whole ending with the flight to the earth’s satellite looks crumpled and filmed without much desire: Chazelle even dispensed with the episode with the hoisting of the Stars and Stripes. The director doesn’t really need the Moon either - the film, after all, is not about her, but about emptiness, and it seems that Armstrong hesitates for so long before jumping into the lunar dust, and does not call Aldrin, who remains in the module, for a long time simply because he wants be alone in peace and quiet.
Damien Chazelle, in a brilliant way, got out of all the traps that awaited him on this project. After his triumph two years ago, he risked filming different “La La Lands” for the rest of his life - no matter where they were, on Earth or in space - but in the end he made a beautiful and painful picture, absolutely nothing like the previous one, even though Both stars the same Gosling in the lead roles. There isn’t really any music in it—one could have done without the music that Justin Hurwitz wrote for the film—and the best soundtrack to “Man on the Moon” was the moments of silence, interspersed with the roar of rockets and the noise of radio interference. And Shezelle managed to film the story about the moon landing in such a way that a new discussion about whether the Americans flew there or whether Stanley Kubrick filmed everything - inevitable in any other case - would be completely inappropriate. What difference does it make, after all, whether Armstrong was on the moon or not, if there was no Neil Armstrong by that time? It’s just that somewhere in the Universe one day two voids met.
45 years ago, on July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility.
They were taken to the Moon by the Apollo 11 spacecraft.
American astronauts spent 21 hours, 36 minutes and 21 seconds on the Moon. It is known that Buzz Aldrin was a Freemason, read more.
Neil Armstrong, stepping on the moon, uttered words that the whole world knows:
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind."
The success of Apollo 11 meant the victory of the United States over the USSR in the exploration of the Moon. But something went wrong. Let's figure it out.
UFO on the Moon
The Americans curtailed the lunar program not because they had no money. Apollo flights 18, 19 and 20 were already paid for.
They were forced to do this because they encountered unknown extraterrestrial forces on the surface of the Moon during the first flight to the Moon.
Alien spacecraft flew alongside Apollo 11 during the 1969 mission of American astronauts to the Moon.
Neil Armstrong, the crew commander, constantly reported this to NASA control center. But what could they do?
Already on the Moon, Armstrong received an order not to go to the lunar surface, but he disobeyed and went to the Moon.
Because of this, he was subsequently removed from space flights and received a severe reprimand.
There is a unique audio recording in which Neil Armstrong speaks in clear words about UFO on the Moon. This recording, which was conducted over a secret, closed communication channel, was made public by ex-NASA President Christopher Craft.
The motives for his action are unclear, because Kraft was a high-ranking Mason, and they know how to keep secrets. But, be that as it may, the recording exists and it is genuine. You can easily find it on the Internet.
Here is an excerpt from the conversations between Neil Armstrong, captain of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, and NASA Mission Control. Recording made on July 21, 1969 on the Moon, in the Sea of Tranquility.
NASA - Repeat your last message.
Armstrong - I'm saying there are other spaceships here. They stand in a straight line on the other side of the crater.
NASA - Repeat, repeat.
Armstrong - Let us probe this area. 125 to 5. Automatic relay connected. My hands are shaking so much that I can't do anything. Should I take it off? My God, if those damn cameras catch something, what then?
NASA - Can you film anything?
Armstrong - I don't have any more film on hand. Three shots from a saucer or whatever that thing is called ruined the film.
NASA - Regain control. Are they in front of you? Have you heard any noises from the UFO?
Armstrong - They landed here. They are here and they are watching us.
Initially, the expedition to the Moon was planned with one goal: to find alien UFO bases. The Americans hoped to find evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence on the Moon and, if they were lucky, to acquire new technologies there.
As a result of the flight to the Moon, the Americans were made to understand that they had nothing to do there. Extraterrestrial forces based on the Moon eventually drove the Americans away from the Moon.
The Russians also knew very well about UFO on the Moon. The testimony of Soviet cosmonauts eloquently testifies to this. If they wanted, the Russians could be the first to be on the moon.
But they prudently preferred to launch pieces of iron on it - lunar rovers - rather than risk people.
"There are extraterrestrial forces that are stronger than we thought. I have no right to say anything more about it."
Wernher von Braun - head of the American lunar program
The Germans developed their science very powerfully. In fact, they created many of the things we use today, the patents were just snatched up by other countries after the war.
For example, former Nazi Wernher von Braun and his associates took the United States into space. If it weren’t for the Germans, who were taken to the United States after the war, it is unknown whether the United States would have flown to the moon or not.
When the Soviet satellite reached the Moon and the Americans first landed on the Moon, flashes appeared on the surface of the Moon and some craters disappeared. Perhaps these were alien bases disguised as “craters.”
The flares were recorded by space agencies of all countries who observed the Moon at that time. It's not fake. These are well-known facts that are not usually discussed.
When the Cold War between the USSR and the USA was at its height, states competed with each other not only in weapons, but also in other areas. Each of them wanted to be the first in everything. Space exploration and astronautics were no exception. If it were not for the failure of the USSR rocket launch, which happened two weeks before the American flight, the first man on the Moon could well have been a Soviet cosmonaut. However, it turned out differently, and the manned American spacecraft, called Apollo 11, went down in world history as the first ship that delivered people to the surface of another space object. The flight, which changed the history of astronautics, lasted from July 16 to July 24, 1969.
The crew of the American ship was led by Neil Armstrong. The biography of this astronaut has been closely intertwined with aviation since his youth, a clear confirmation of which is the fact that he received a pilot’s license before his driver’s license. The module landed on the lunar surface on July 20 in the southwestern part of the Mare Tranquility. In addition to the expedition commander, pilot Edwin Aldrin was here. The control was carried out by Michael Collins, who at that time was in orbit and acted on signals from his colleagues. In total, the module spent 21 hours, 36 minutes and 21 seconds on the Moon. After six hours of preparation, the astronauts reached the surface of the Earth's satellite, where they remained for two and a half hours. The expedition commander, Neil Armstrong, took the first steps on it. Edwin Aldrin also visited the moon and landed about fifteen minutes later.
Time on the Moon
Near the place where the module landed, the astronauts planted a US flag. Live broadcast of these events was carried out by television and radio channels of almost all world states, with the exception of China and the USSR. The pulse of both astronauts at this moment was about 160 beats per minute. The first man on the Moon, together with his partner, took more than 20 kg of soil samples. They were intended for research in laboratories on Earth. A capsule was also buried here, containing medals from astronauts who died during previous attempts to get here. It also contained an earthly map and a note that said that the earthlings had come in peace. Thus, the national goal set a decade earlier by the country's president, John Kennedy, that the first man on the moon should be an American, was fulfilled. Before returning to their home planet, the crew members, along with the collected samples, underwent a very strict quarantine check to ensure the absence of possible microorganisms of extraterrestrial origin.
Interesting fact
It was originally planned that Edwin Aldrin would be the first to descend to the lunar surface. According to the American space flight program, a pilot, not a crew leader, was always supposed to go into outer space. However, the nuance was not taken into account that Aldrin was further from the hatch, so he needed to climb over his commander in all his equipment. The rehearsal of such a maneuver demonstrated that this was unrealistic. Thus, Neil Armstrong became one of the three people who became the first in astronautics. The first cosmonaut was Gagarin, the first man to go into outer space was Leonov, and Armstrong went down in history as the first man on the Moon.
