Tag Archives: Gemini Program

20 January 1930

ALDRIN, Edwin Eugene, Jr., Apollo 11. (NASA)
Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., United States Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astronaut, in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle. (NASA)
Edwin E. (“Buzz”) Aldrin, Jr., 1947. (The Amphitheatre)

20 January 1930: Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Sc.D., United States Air Force (Retired), was born at Glen Ridge, New Jersey, the second child of Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Aviation Director of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, and Marion Gaddys Moon Aldrin.

The family resided in Montclair, New Jersey. “Buzz” Aldrin attended Montclair High School, and participated in football and track and field (pole vault). He graduated in 1947.

After high school, Aldrin turned down a full scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and instead entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. During his Plebe Year (freshman), Cadet Aldrin placed first in academics and physical education. He was a member of the French Club and the track and swim teams. In his third year he was a cadet corporal, and was designated as “distinguished.” He served as a cadet lieutenant during his final year.

Cadet Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., 1951. (The Howitzer)

Aldrin graduated from West Point on 5 June 1951 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.). He was ranked third in his class. A notation in the class yearbook states,

“As is evidenced by his fine record at the Academy, Buzz should make a capable, dependable and efficient officer in the U.S. Air Force.”

The Howitzer 1951, at Page 98

Aldrin accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, with his date of rank retroactive to 1 June 1951. Second Lieutenant Aldrin was assigned to basic flight training at Bartow Air Force Base, Florida. Advanced training took place at Bryan Air Force Base, Texas. He trained as a fighter pilot and transitioned to the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre at Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, Nevada.

Lieutenant Aldrin flew the North American Aviation F-86E Sabre with the 16th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, located at Suwon Air Base (K-13), Korea. On 14 May 1953 he shot down an enemy Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 fighter, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.¹ Three weeks later, 7 June, he shot down a second MiG 15.

Still images from the gun camera film show an enemy pilot bailing out of a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 shot down by Lieutenant Edwin E. (“Buzz”) Aldrin, U.S. Air Force, 5 miles south of the Yalu River, 14 May 1953. (U.S. Air Force)
1st Lieutenant Buzz Aldrin, 51st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, in teh cocpit of a North American Aviation F-86A Sabre, after shooting down an enemy MiG 15 fighter. (U.S. Air Force via Jet Pilot Overseas)
Lieutenant Buzz Aldrin, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, in the cockpit of a North American Aviation F-86E Sabre after shooting down an enemy Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 fighter during the Korean War. (U.S. Air Force via Jet Pilot Overseas)

Buzz Aldrin flew 66 combat missions during the Korean War. After returning to the United States, he served as a flight instructor at Bryan AFB, Texas, and then a gunnery instructor at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

Instructor Buzz Aldrin in the cockpit of a Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star at Bryan Air Force Base, Texas. (U.S. Air Force via Jet Pilot Overseas)

1st Lieutenant Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., married Miss Joan Ann Archer at the Episcopal Church in Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey, 29 December 1954. They would have three children.

Lieutenant and Mrs. Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., 29 December 1954. The bride is the former Miss Joan Ann Archer.

Lieutenant Aldrin’s next assignment was to the three-month Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. Aldrin then served as an aide to Brigadier General Don Zabriskie Zimmerman, the Dean of Faculty at the newly-established United States Air Force Academy, which was then located at Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado.

In 1955, Captain Aldrin was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Day Squadron, 36th Fighter Day Wing, at Bitburg Air Base, Germany, flying the North American Aviation F-100 Super Sabre. The squadron trained at Wheelus Air Base in North Africa.

North American Aviation F-100C-20-NA Super Sabre 54-1941, 22nd Fighter Day Squadron, 36th Fighter Day Wing, at Bitburg Air Base, Germany. (U.S. Air Force)

In 1959 Captain Aldrin returned to the United States to enter a masters degree program in aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Aldrin and his wife were both very seriously ill at this time, and he was a patient in a military hospital for the first six months. With nothing to do but study, Aldrin finished first among the other Air Force officers in the program.

Aldrin remained at M.I.T. to earn a Doctorate in Science in Astronautics (Sc.D.) by devising orbital navigation techniques. His thesis on Manned Orbital Rendezvous, earned Buzz another nickname: “Dr. Rendezvous.”

In October 1963, Major Aldrin was selected as an astronaut for the Gemini Program. He was one of 14 members of NASA Astronaut Group 3, which was announced 18 October 1963. He flew with James A. Lovell, Jr., aboard Gemini XII, 11–15 November 1966. They made 59 orbits of the Earth in 3 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes, 31 seconds. Aldrin performed the first successful “space walk.” He was outside the spacecraft for three “EVAs,” of 2 hours, 29 minutes; 2 hours, 6 minutes; and 55 minutes. A rendezvous and docking with an Agena target vehicle was also successful.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin standing in the open hatch of Gemini XII in Earth orbit. (NASA)

Gemini XII was the final manned flight of the Gemini Program. Buzz Aldrin moved on to the Apollo Program.

Along with Neil Alden Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon, 20 July 1969.

Astronaut Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on the surface of The Moon, 20 July 1969. (Neil A. Armstrong/NASA)

Aldrin resigned from NASA in July 1971. Returning to operational service with the Air Force, Colonel Aldrin was assigned as Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He retired in March 1972.

Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., United States Air Force.
Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force)

In Return To Earth, (Random House, Inc., New York, 1973) Buzz Aldrin wrote about the depression he suffered: After you’ve been to the Moon, what else is there?

Aldrin has been married three times. He and his first wife, Joan, divorced in December 1974. He married Mrs. Beverly I. Handelsman Van Zile, 19 December 1975. They divorced 10 April 1978. On Valentine’s Day, 14 February 1988, Aldrin married his third wife, Mrs. Lois Driggs Cannon. They divorced 28 December 2012.

Buzz Aldrin has written several books and he continues to advocate manned space exploration.

HAPPY 94th BIRTHDAY, Colonel Aldrin!

Edwin Eugene (“Buzz”) Aldrin, Jr., Sc.D., Colonel, U.S. Air Force (Retired), and NASA Astronaut, August 2016. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

¹ Soviet records indicate that a MiG 15 of 913 IAP (Istrebitel’nyy Aviatsionnyy Polk, Fighter Aviation Regiment), 32nd IAD (Istrebitel’naya Aviatsionnyy Diveeziya, Fighter Aviation Division), based at Antung Air Base, China, was shot down by an F-86 on 13 May 1953. The pilot, Senior Lieutenant Hristoforov, ejected safely. There were three MiG 15 losses that occurred on 14 May 1953. Two MiGs of 224 IAP collided and both pilots, Senior Lieutenant Odintsov and Lieutenant Evgeny Stroliikov, ejected. Odintsov was seriously hurt. A third MiG 15 crash landed at Myagoy Air Base. Its pilot, Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Sedashev, 518 IAP, was killed.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

4 December 1965, 19:30:03.702 UTC

Gemini 7 lifts off from Launch Complex 19, 1430 EST, 4 December 1965. (NASA)
Gemini VII/Titan II GLV-7 lifts off from Launch Complex 19, 1430 EST, 4 December 1965. (NASA)

4 December 1965, 19:30:03.702 UTC: At 2:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Gemini VII/Titan II GLV-7 lifted of from Launch Complex 19 at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Cape Kennedy, Florida. On board were Major Frank F. Borman II, United States Air Force, the mission command pilot, and Lieutenant Commander James A. Lovell, Jr., United States Navy, pilot. During the climb to Earth orbit, the maximum acceleration reached was 7.3 Gs.

Gemini VII was placed into Earth orbit at an initial maximum altitude (apogee) of 177.1 nautical miles (327.8 kilometers) and a minimum (perigee) of 87.2 nautical miles (161.5 kilometers), at a velocity of 16,654.1 miles per hour (26,802.2 kilometers per hour), relative to Earth.

This mission was a planned 14-day flight which would involve an orbital rendezvous with another manned spacecraft, Gemini VI-A. The actual total duration of the flight was 330 hours, 35 minutes, 1 second.

Artist’s concept of Gemini spacecraft, 3 January 1962. (NASA-S-65-893)

The two-man Gemini spacecraft was built by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, the same company that built the earlier Mercury space capsule. The spacecraft consisted of a series of cone-shaped segments forming a reentry module and an adapter section. It had an overall length of 18 feet, 9.84 inches (5.736 meters) and a maximum diameter of 10 feet, 0.00 inches (3.048 meters) at the base of the equipment section. The reentry module was 11 feet (3.353 meters) long with a maximum diameter of 7 feet, 6.00 inches (2.347 meters). The Gemini re-entry heat shield was a spherical section with a radius of 12 feet, 0.00 inches (3.658 meters). The weight of the Gemini spacecraft varied from ship to ship. Gemini VII had a gross weight of 8,076.10 pounds (3,663.26 kilograms) at launch. It was shipped from St. Louis to Cape Kennedy in early October 1965.

Gemini 7, photographed in Earth orbit from Gemini 6, December 1965. (NASA)
Gemini VII, photographed in Earth orbit from Gemini VI-A, 15–16 December 1965. (NASA)

The Titan II GLV was a “man-rated” variant of the Martin SM-68B intercontinental ballistic missile. It was assembled at Martin Marietta’s Middle River, Maryland, plant so as not to interfere with the production of the ICBM at Denver, Colorado. Twelve GLVs were ordered by the Air Force for the Gemini Program. The GLV-7 first and second stages were shipped from Middle River to Cape Kennedy on 9 October 1965.

The Titan II GLV was a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket. The first stage was 70 feet, 2.31 inches (21.395 meters) long with a diameter of 10 feet (3.048 meters). It was powered by an Aerojet Engineering Corporation LR87-7 engine which combined two combustion chambers and exhaust nozzles with a single turbopump unit. The engine was fueled by Aerozine 50, a hypergolic 51/47/2 blend of hydrazine, unsymetrical-dimethyl hydrazine, and water. Ignition occurred spontaneously as the components were combined in the combustion chambers. The LR87-7 produced approximately 430,000 pounds of thrust (1,912.74 kilonewtons). It was not throttled and could not be shut down and restarted. Post flight analysis indicated that the first stage engine of GLV-7 had produced an average of 462,433 pounds of thrust (2,057.0 kilonewtons). The second stage was 25 feet, 6.375 inches (7.031 meters) long, with the same diameter, and used an Aerojet LR91 engine which produced approximately 100,000 pounds of thrust (444.82 kilonewtons), also burning Aerozine 50. GLV-7’s LR91 produced an average of 102,584 pounds of thrust (456.3 kilonewtons).

The Gemini/Titan II GLV-7 combination had a total height of 107 feet, 7.33 inches (32.795 meters) and weighed 346,228 pounds (157,046 kilograms) at ignition.

Lieutenant Commander James A. Lovell, Jr., U.S. Navy, and Major Frank F. Borman II, U.S. Air Force, with a scale model of a Gemini spacecraft. (NASA)
Lieutenant Commander James A. Lovell, Jr., U.S. Navy, and Major Frank F. Borman II, U.S. Air Force, with a scale model of a Gemini spacecraft. (NASA)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

21 August 1965, 13:59:59.518 UTC, T minus Zero

Astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr., lift of from Launch Complex 19, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Florida, at 13:59:59 UTC, 21 August 1965. This would be an 8-day mission. (NASA)
Astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr., aboard Gemini 5/Titan II GLV, lift of from Launch Complex 19, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Florida, at 13:59:59.518 UTC, 21 August 1965. This would be an 8-day mission. (NASA)

21 August 1965: At 9:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time (13:59:59.518 UTC), Gemini V lifted off from Launch Complex 19 at Cape Kennedy, Florida. On board the spacecraft were L. Gordon Cooper, Command Pilot, and Charles (“Pete”) Conrad, Jr. The purpose of the mission was to demonstrate manned orbital flight for a period of 8 days. During the launch, the crew experienced a maximum acceleration of 7.6 g.

Five minutes, 56.91 seconds after liftoff, the Gemini spacecraft was placed in a 87.4 × 188.9 nautical mile elliptical orbit with a velocity of 25,805 feet/second, inclined from Earth’s axis by 32.59°, orbiting once every 89.59 minutes. At 56:00 ground elapsed time (g.e.t.), the crew performed an orbital maneuver which increased the minimum orbital altitude (perigee) to 92 nautical miles. The orbital period increased very slightly to 89.68 minutes.

The heater for the liquid oxygen supply of one of the two fuel cells failed at 25:51 g.e.t. The gaseous oxygen pressure began to decline from 853 psi to 70 over the next four hours. The crew powered down he spacecraft until it could be determined that the fuel cells could provide sufficient electrical power to continue the mission.  Power was restored slowly over ten orbits.

During the third day, the crew practiced orbital maneuvers for upcoming Agena rendezvous and docking missions. 16 of 17 planned experiments were carried out over the course of the mission.

Reentery deceleration was 7.1 g. The actual landing point was 89 nautical miles short of predicted, at N. 29° 47′, W. 69° 45′. Total duration of the Gemini V mission was 190:55:17. The spacecraft and crew were recovered by the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain (CVS -39).

Gemini Spacecraft. (NASA Gemini IV Mission Report, Figure 3–2 at Page 3–25)

The two-man Gemini spacecraft was built by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, the same company that built the earlier Mercury space capsule. The spacecraft consisted of a reentry module and an adapter section. It had an overall length of 19 feet (5.791 meters) and a diameter of 10 feet (3.048 meters) at the base of the adapter section. The reentry module was 11 feet (3.353 meters) long with a diameter of 7.5 feet (2.347 meters). The weight of the Gemini varied from ship to ship. At launch. Gemini Spacecraft 5 weighed 7,947.17 pounds (3,604.78 kilograms). At touchdown, after the parachute was jettisoned, it weighed 4,244.75 pounds (1,925.39 kilograms).

Titan II GLV, (NASA Gemini IV Mission Report, Figure 3-1, at Page 3–23)

The Titan II GLV was a “man-rated” variant of the Martin SM-68B intercontinental ballistic missile. It was assembled at Martin’s Middle River, Maryland plant so as not to interfere with the production of the ICBM at Denver, Colorado. Twelve GLVs were ordered by the Air Force for the Gemini Program.

The Titan II GLV was a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket. The first stage was 63 feet (19.202 meters) long with a diameter of 10 feet (3.048 meters). The second stage was 27 feet (8.230 meters) long, with the same diameter. The 1st stage was powered by an Aerojet Engineering Corporation LR-87-7 engine which combined two combustion chambers and exhaust nozzles with a single turbopump unit. The engine was fueled by a hypergolic combination of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. Ignition occurred spontaneously as the two components were combined in the combustion chambers. The LR-87-7 produced 430,000 pounds of thrust. It was not throttled and could not be shut down and restarted. The 2nd stage used an Aerojet LR-91 engine which produced 100,000 pounds of thrust.

The Gemini 5/Titan II GLV-5 combination had a total height of 109 feet (33.223 meters) and weighed 344,685 pounds (156,346 kilograms) when at first stage ignition.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

Neil Alden Armstrong (5 August 1930–25 August 2012)

Neil Alden Armstrong, Astronaut, The First Human to Set Foot on the Surface of The Moon. (NASA)

The following is the official NASA biography from the John H. Glenn Research Center:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John H. Glenn Research Center
Lewis Field
Cleveland, Ohio 44135

Neil A. Armstrong

Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. He began his NASA career in Ohio.

After serving as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952, Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1955. His first assignment was with the NACA Lewis Research Center (now NASA Glenn) in Cleveland. Over the next 17 years, he was an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NACA and its successor agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

As a research pilot at NASA’s Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., he was a project pilot on many pioneering high speed aircraft, including the well known, 4000-mph X-15. He has flown over 200 different models of aircraft, including jets, rockets, helicopters and gliders.

Armstrong transferred to astronaut status in 1962. He was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. Gemini 8 was launched on March 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.

As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface.

Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination and management of overall NASA research and technology work related to aeronautics.

He was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati between 1971-1979. During the years 1982-1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Charlottesville, Va.

He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. He holds honorary doctorates from a number of universities.

Armstrong is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical Society; Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the International Astronautics Federation.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. He served as a member of the National Commission on Space (1985-1986), as Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (1986), and as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Peace Corps (1971-1973).

Armstrong has been decorated by 17 countries. He is the recipient of many special honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; the Explorers Club Medal; the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy; the NASA Distinguished Service Medal; the Harmon International Aviation Trophy; the Royal Geographic Society’s Gold Medal; the Federation Aeronautique Internationale’s Gold Space Medal; the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award; the Robert J. Collier Trophy; the AIAA Astronautics Award; the Octave Chanute Award; and the John J. Montgomery Award.

Armstrong passed away on Aug. 25, 2012 following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. He was 82.

August 2012

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/neilabio.html

Neil Alden Armstrong, age 6
Neil Alden Armstrong, age 6
Ensign Neil A. Armstrong, United States Naval Reserve, 23 May 1952. (U.S. Navy)
Ensign Neil Alden Armstrong, United States Navy, circa 1951. (U.S. Navy)
Ensign Neil Alden Armstrong, United States Navy, circa 1951. (U.S. Navy)
Ensign Neil A. Armstrong, as wingman to Lieutenant (j.g.) Ernie Moore, is flying the second Grumman F9F-2 Panther, Bu. No. 125122 (marked S 116), assigned to VF-51, USS Essex (CV-9), 1951. (Naval Aviation Museum)
Ensign Neil A. Armstrong, as wingman to Lieutenant (j.g.) Ernie Moore, is flying the second Grumman F9F-2 Panther, Bu. No. 125127 (marked S 116), assigned to VF-51, USS Essex (CV-9), 1951. (Naval Aviation Museum)
3 September 1951, Ensign neil Armstrong was flying his Grumman F9F-2 Panther, Bu. No., 125122, escorting a photo reconnaissance aircraft over Koreawhen his airplane was damaged by enemy ground fire. At low altitude, he struck and anti-aircraft cable whoich further damaged the fighter and made it impossible to land. Armstrong was abl eto reach friendly territory and ejected safely. This photograph was taken a short time later. (U.S. Navy)
3 September 1951, Ensign Neil A. Armstrong was flying his Grumman F9F-2 Panther, Bu. No., 125122, escorting a photo reconnaissance aircraft over Korea when his airplane was damaged by enemy ground fire. At low altitude, he struck an anti-aircraft cable which further damaged the fighter and made it impossible to land. Armstrong was able to reach friendly territory and ejected safely. This photograph was taken a short time later. (U.S. Navy) 
NASA Engineering Test Pilot Neil A. Armstrong, 1958. (NASA)
NASA Engineering Test Pilot Neil A. Armstrong, 1958. (NASA) 
NASA test pilot Neil A. Armstrong dons a pressure suit before his first flight in teh North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane, at Edwards AFB, 30 November 1960. (NASA)
NASA test pilot Neil A. Armstrong dons a David Clark Co. MC-2 full-pressure suit before his first flight in the North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane, at Edwards AFB, 30 November 1960. (NASA)
Neil Armstrong with the first North American Aviation X-15A, 56-6670, on Rogers Dry Lake after a flight, 1960. (NASA)
Neil Armstrong with the first North American Aviation X-15A, 56-6670, on Rogers Dry Lake after a flight, 1960. Armstrong made seven flights in the X-15, including the longest, “Neil’s Cross Country”. (NASA)
NASA Research Test Pilot Neail A. Armstrong with teh Bell X-14 at NASA Ames Research Center, February 1964. (NASA)
NASA Research Test Pilot Neil A. Armstrong with the Bell X-14 at NASA Ames Research Center, February 1964. (NASA via Jet Pilot Overseas) 
Neil A. Armstrong during a training exercise near Cimmaron, new Mexico, June 1964. (NASA via Jet Pilot Overseas)
NASA Project Gemini astronaut Neil A. Armstrong during a field training exercise near Cimarron, New Mexico, June 1964. (NASA via Jet Pilot Overseas)
Astronauts David R. Scott, Pilot (left) and Neil A. Armstrong, Command Pilot (right) with U.S. Air Force pararescue jumpers at the end of the nearly disastrous Gemini 8 mission, 17 March 1966. (NASA)
Astronauts David R. Scott, Pilot (left) and Neil A. Armstrong, Command Pilot (right) with U.S. Air Force pararescue jumpers at the end of the nearly disastrous Gemini 8 mission, 17 March 1966. (NASA)
NASA Project Apollo Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong with a Bell Aerosystems Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, 1969. (Ralph Morse/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
NASA Project Apollo Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong with a Bell Aerosystems Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, 1969. (Ralph Morse/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Neil Alden Armstrong, Mission Commander, Apollo 11, 16 july 1969. (NASA)
Neil Alden Armstrong, Mission Commander, Apollo 11, 16 July 1969. (NASA)
Neil Armstrong steps onto the Moon, 10:56 p.m. EDT, 20 July 1969. (NASA)
Neil Armstrong steps onto the Moon, 10:56 p.m. EDT, 20 July 1969. (NASA)
Neil Alden Armstrong inside the Lunar Module on the surface of the Moon, 20 July 1969. (NASA)
Neil Alden Armstrong inside the Lunar Module Eagle on the surface of The Moon, 20 July 1969. (Edwin E. Aldrin, NASA) 
Professor Neil A. Armstrong in his classroom at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering, 1974. (Peggy Palange, UC Public Information Office)
Professor Neil A. Armstrong in his classroom at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering, 1974. (Peggy Palange, UC Public Information Office) 
A bronze statue of Neil Alden Armstrong in front of the Hall of Engineering.
An 8-foot tall bronze statue of Neil Alden Armstrong, sculpted by Chas Fagan, sits in front of the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes