was neil armstrong first man on the moon

WAS NEIL ARMSTRONG FIRST MAN ON THE MOON SERIES

You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. 'Roger, Tranquility,' the Houston staffer radioed back. 'Houston: Tranquility Base here,' Armstrong radioed after the spacecraft settled onto the moon. The end-of-decade goal was met with more than five months to spare. 'No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important to the long-range exploration of space and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.' 'I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth,' Kennedy had said. Gagarin had orbited the Earth and beaten the U.S. The 1969 landing met an audacious deadline that President Kennedy had set in May 1961, shortly after Alan Shepard became the first American in space with a 15-minute suborbital flight. 'The fact that we were able to see it and be a part of it means that we are in our own way witnesses to history,' he said. pre-eminence in science and technology, Elliott said. The manned lunar landing was a boon to the prestige of the United States, which had been locked in a space race with the former Soviet Union, and re-established U.S. Air and Space Museum from 1982 to 1992, said the moonwalk probably marked the high point of space exploration. Glenn, who went through jungle training in Panama with Armstrong as part of the astronaut program, described him as 'exceptionally brilliant' with technical matters but 'rather retiring, doesn't like to be thrust into the limelight much.'ĭerek Elliott, curator of the Smithsonian Institution's U.S. It did allow both sides to take the high road with the objectives of science and learning and exploration.' In the Australian interview, Armstrong acknowledged that 'now and then I miss the excitement about being in the cockpit of an airplane and doing new things.'Īt the time of the flight's 40th anniversary, Armstrong again was low-key, telling a gathering that the space race was 'the ultimate peaceful competition: USA versus U.S.S.R. Aldrin said in his book 'Men from Earth' that Armstrong was one of the quietest, most private men he had ever met. In the years afterward, Armstrong retreated to the quiet of the classroom and his southwest Ohio farm.

WAS NEIL ARMSTRONG FIRST MAN ON THE MOON SERIES

Thirty-four years?' Armstrong quipped, as if he hadn't given it a thought.Īt another joint appearance, the two embraced and Glenn commented: 'To this day, he's the one person on Earth, I'm truly, truly envious of.'Īrmstrong's moonwalk capped a series of accomplishments that included piloting the X-15 rocket plane and making the first space docking during the Gemini 8 mission, which included a successful emergency splashdown. Glenn introduced Armstrong and noted it was 34 years to the day that Armstrong had walked on the moon. John Glenn to lay wreaths on the graves of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

He later joined former astronaut and Sen. But he spoke for only a few seconds, did not mention the moon, and quickly ducked out of the spotlight. When he appeared in Dayton in 2003 to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight, he bounded onto a stage before 10,000 people packed into a baseball stadium. He testified before Congress and in an email to The Associated Press, Armstrong said he had 'substantial reservations,' and along with more than two dozen Apollo-era veterans, he signed a letter calling the plan a 'misguided proposal that forces NASA out of human space operations for the foreseeable future.'Īrmstrong's modesty and self-effacing manner never faded. A man who kept away from cameras, Armstrong went public in 2010 with his concerns about President Barack Obama's space policy that shifted attention away from a return to the moon and emphasized private companies developing spaceships.

Was neil armstrong first man on the moon