Tag Archives: Moon Landing

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

August 25, 2023Aviation, Space FlightAeronautical Engineer, American Hero, Apollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Fighter Pilot, First Man on the Moon, Gemini 8, Gemini VIII, Lunar Landing, Manned Space Flight, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA X-15 Hypersonic Research Program, Neil A. Armstrong, Neil Alden Armstrong, Neil Armstrong, North American Aviation X-15A, Professor, Project Gemini, Test PilotBryan Swopes

NEIL ALDEN ARMSTRONG (1930–2012)

The following is the official NASA biography:

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.

The above official NASA biography is from the website: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/neilabio.html

Apollo 11 Lunar Module, with Neil Armstrong, first step, 0256 UTC 21 July 1969 — “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Astronaut Neil Armstrong steps onto the surface of The Moon, 20 July 1969. (NASA)

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (18 November 1923–21 July 1998)

July 21, 2023Aviation, Space FlightAlan B. Shepard Jr., Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr., Alan Shepard, Apollo 14, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Fighter Pilot, Freedom 7, Lunar Landing, Mercury 7, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Project Mercury, Test Pilot, United States NavyBryan Swopes

Alan Shepard suited up before the launch of Apollo 14. (NASA)

ALAN B. SHEPARD, JR. (REAR ADMIRAL, USN, RET.)
NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)

PERSONAL DATA: Born November 18, 1923, in East Derry, New Hampshire. Died on July 21, 1998. His wife, Louise, died on August 25, 1998. They are survived by daughters Julie, Laura and Alice, and six grandchildren.

EDUCATION: Attended primary and secondary schools in East Derry and Derry, New Hampshire; received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1944, an Honorary Master of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1962, and Honorary Doctorate of Science from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1971, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Franklin Pierce College in 1972. Graduated Naval Test Pilot School in 1951; Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island in 1957.

ORGANIZATIONS: Fellow of the American Astronautical Society and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots; member of the Rotary, the Kiwanis, the Mayflower Society, the Order of the Cincinnati, and the American Fighter Aces; honorary member, Board of Directors for the Houston School for Deaf Children, Director, National Space Institute, and Director, Los Angeles Ear Research Institute.

SPECIAL HONORS: Congressional Medal of Honor (Space); Awarded two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the Navy Astronaut Wings, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross; recipient of the Langley Medal (highest award of the Smithsonian Institution) on May 5, 1964, the Lambert Trophy, the Kinchloe Trophy, the Cabot Award, the Collier Trophy, the City of New York Gold Medal (1971), Achievement Award for 1971. Shepard was appointed by the President in July 1971 as a delegate to the 26th United Nations General Assembly and served through the entire assembly which lasted from September to December 1971.

EXPERIENCE: Shepard began his naval career, after graduation from Annapolis, on the destroyer COGSWELL, deployed in the pacific during World War II. He subsequently entered flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas, and Pensacola, Florida, and received his wings in 1947. His next assignment was with Fighter Squadron 42 at Norfolk, Virginia, and Jacksonville, Florida. He served several tours aboard aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean while with this squadron.

In 1950, he attended the United States Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. After graduation, he participated in flight test work which included high- altitude tests to obtain data on light at different altitudes and on a variety of air masses over the American continent; and test and development experiments of the Navy’s in-flight refueling system, carrier suitability trails of the F2H3 Banshee, and Navy trials of the first angled carrier deck. He was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 193 at Moffett Field, California, a night fighter unit flying Banshee jets. As operations officer of this squadron, he made two tours to the Western pacific onboard the carrier ORISKANY.

He returned to Patuxent for a second tour of duty and engaged in flight testing the F3H Demon, F8U Crusader, F4D Skyray, and F11F Tigercat. He was also project test pilot on the F5D Skylancer, and his last five months at Patuxent were spent as an instructor in the Test Pilot School. He later attended the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, and upon graduating in 1957 was subsequently assigned to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, as aircraft readiness officer.

He has logged more than 8,000 hours flying time–3,700 hours in jet aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Rear Admiral Shepard was one of the Mercury astronauts named by NASA in April 1959, and he holds the distinction of being the first American to journey into space. On May 5, 1961, in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, he was launched by a Redstone vehicle on a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight–a flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles and to a landing point 302 statute miles down the Atlantic Missile Range.

In 1963, he was designated Chief of the Astronaut Office with responsibility for monitoring the coordination, scheduling, and control of all activities involving NASA astronauts. This included monitoring the development and implementation of effective training programs to assure the flight readiness of available pilot/non-pilot personnel for assignment to crew positions on manned space flights; furnishing pilot evaluations applicable to the design, construction, and operations of spacecraft systems and related equipment; and providing qualitative scientific and engineering observations to facilitate overall mission planning, formulation of feasible operational procedures, and selection and conduct of specific experiments for each flight. He was restored to full flight status in May 1969, following corrective surgery for an inner ear disorder.

Shepard made his second space flight as spacecraft commander on Apollo 14, January 31 – February 9, 1971. He was accompanied on man’s third lunar landing mission by Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot, and Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot. Maneuvering their lunar module, “Antares,” to a landing in the hilly upland Fra Mauro region of the moon, Shepard and Mitchell subsequently deployed and activated various scientific equipment and experiments and collected almost 100 pounds of lunar samples for return to earth. Other Apollo 14 achievements included: first use of Mobile Equipment Transporter (MET); largest payload placed in lunar orbit; longest distance traversed on the lunar surface; largest payload returned from the lunar surface; longest lunar surface stay time (33 hours); longest lunar surface EVA (9 hours and 17 minutes); first use of shortened lunar orbit rendezvous techniques; first use of colored TV with new vidicon tube on lunar surface; and first extensive orbital science period conducted during CSM solo operations.

Rear Admiral Shepard has logged a total of 216 hours and 57 minutes in space, of which 9 hours and 17 minutes were spent in lunar surface EVA.

He resumed his duties as Chief of the Astronaut Office in June 1971 and served in this capacity until he retired from NASA and the Navy on August 1, 1974.

Shepard was in private business in Houston, Texas. He served as the President of the Mercury Seven Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides college science scholarships for deserving students.

—The above is the official NASA Biography of Alan Shepard from the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center web site:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/shepard-alan.html

Rear Admiral Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., United States Navy.

21 July 1969, 17:54:00 UTC, T + 124:22:00.79

July 21, 2023Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Ascent Stage, Astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, Columbia, Command and Service Module, CSM-107, Eagle, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, LM-5, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, Michael Collins, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Neil Alden ArmstrongBryan Swopes

Apollo 11 LM Eagle Ascent Stage approaching CSM Columbia in Lunar Orbit, 21 July 1969. (Michael Collins/National Aeronautics and Space Administration AS11-44-6642) — The Ascent Stage of the Lunar Module *Eagle* (LM-5) approaches the Command/Service Module *Columbia* in Lunar Orbit, approximately 2130 UTC, 21 July 1969. (Michael Collins, NASA)

21 July 1969: After spending a total of 21 hours, 36 minutes, 21 seconds on the surface of The Moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin fired the rocket engine of the Lunar Module’s Ascent Stage. The liftoff was at 17:54 UTC.

Three hours and forty minutes later, the Eagle ascent stage docked with Columbia, the Command/Service Module, in lunar orbit.

Apollo 11 Command and Service Module Columbia (CSM-107) in Lunar Orbit — The Apollo 11 Command and Service Module, *Columbia* (CSM-107), in Lunar Orbit, as seen from the Lunar Module, *Eagle*. (NASA)

21 July 1969

July 21, 2023Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, Lunar Landing, Manned Space Flight, Mare Tranquillitatis, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Neil Alden ArmstrongBryan Swopes

21 July 1969: Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on the surface of The Moon in a photograph taken by Neil Alden Armstrong.

The reflection of the Lunar Module Eagle and of Armstrong can be seen in Aldrin’s face plate.

Aldrin, Edwin Eugene ("Buzz"), Jr., with the flag of the United States of America on the surface of The Moon, 21 July 1969. (Neil Alden Armstrong, National Aeronautics and Space Administration AS11-40-5876) — Buzz Aldrin and the flag of the United States of America on the surface of The Moon, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstong/NASA)

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. . . .”

—President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Buzz Aldrin in the Lunar Module Eagle after the EVA, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstrong, NASA) — Buzz Aldrin in the Lunar Module *Eagle* after the EVA, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstrong, NASA)

21 July 1969, 02:56:15 UTC, T + 109:24:15

July 21, 2023Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Eagle, First Step, LM-5, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, Neil A. Armstrong, Neil Alden Armstrong, Neil ArmstrongBryan Swopes

10:56:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Sunday, 20 July 1969 (02:56:15, 21 July 1969 UTC): 109 hours, 24 minutes, 15 seconds after the Apollo 11/Saturn V was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA Astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong set foot on the surface of the Moon.

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

This was the most significant event in the history of mankind.

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