In the ranks and returns home on t w dont come to tanks. Cape canaveral florida july 1 19693 men set off in one of the greatest adventures in Human History their goal to move. Back to the same place at all and one hundreds of thousands were there to watch. One of them in. The cold war was in full swing and the competition between the u. S. And the soviet Union Extended even to space. On july 20th 1069. 00 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the 1st human to set foot on earth spoke only permanent satellite. This event would bring armstrong fame that he had never sought and it would also change his life forever. Strong became a Living Legend in the history of space travel like a 20th century christopher columbus. But at the height of his popularity he voluntarily withdrew from public life. Armstrong served as a navy pilot during the korean war 1955 he signed on with the governments high speed flight station at Edwards Air Force base in california. His 1st job was piloting chase planes during tests of experimental aircraft the flight station was home to some of the countrys best airmen. They had the right stuff a combination of bravery and maci small that drove them to take on Dangerous Missions with aircraft that were still in the development stage. Armstrongs interest in aircraft dates back to his Early Childhood he and his father once took a ride in a ford tri motor known as the tin goose they also attended local air shows together. Armstrong knew from the very start that he wanted to be a pilot later he worked various jobs to earn money for flying lessons and earned a student flight certificate on the day he turned 16. He also made his 1st solo flight later that month. In 1947 armstrong unrolled at Purdue University and studied aeronautical engineering is to wish it was paid for by a federal program in return after graduation he was required to complete 3 years of training and service in the u. S. Navy. Afterward armstrong returned to purdue earning a degree in aeronautical engineering in january 1905. A year later armstrong married janet sharon hed met at purdue. He wasnt yet thinking about space travel he was now starting a career as a test pilot. In october 1057 the soviet union shocked the world by launching the 1st satellite called sputnik. At that time many in the west believe that the u. S. S. R. Was technologically backward but the launch of sputnik changed all of that. And the soviet successfully tested their 1st Intercontinental Ballistic Missile 1957 because of concern for the west. Better than us responded by setting up a civilian Space Program the National Aeronautics and Space Administration right among the agencys missions to put an astronaut into space. Nasa chose a number of experienced test pilots to take part in the program. Meanwhile Neil Armstrong continued his career as a project pilot he flew a wide variety of aircraft including the famous x. 15 series these were experimental rocket powered aircraft that could fly faster than the speed of sound they often reached altitudes of more. 80 kilometers just short of the technical definition of outer space. Armstrong was an excellent pilot but led an unassuming private life he and his family lived in a home in the mountains of Southern California with no electricity or hot water. His colleagues described him as friendly but reserved he preferred to let his talents as a pilot speak for themselves. In the early 1960 s. Few thought that a manned spacecraft to the moon was possible and the u. S. Space program was about to be outdone again by the soviet union. In april 961. 00 yuri gagarin became the 1st human to journey into outer space the gardens capsule made a single orbit around the earth and then returned. What is good daryn was being celebrated worldwide as the 1st man in space the u. S. Was putting the final touches to its own inaugural space flight. The next month former navy aviator and test pilot alan shepard took off from cape canaveral. It was only a 15 minute flight. Shepherd did not orbit the earth as good daryn had done after the flight his space capsule splashed down as planned off the coast of bermuda. Shephard successful flight prompted president john f. Kennedy to make a bold proposal. I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. In february 962 the usa launched its 3rd manned space flight the pilot was john glenn an experienced marine corps aviator and a veteran of the advanced aircraft Testing Program washington spared no expense in its competition with moscow to conquer space. So crucial started making crew assignments for future missions to the moon this program was called apollo among the candidates were james lovell. James mcdevitt. John young. And frank foreman. In june 1902 Neil Armstrong applied to become an astronaut. At this point in his life armstrong was trying to cope with a very serious personal tragedy. This 2 year old daughter karen died of a brain tumor in january 962. Armstrong dealt with his grief by working harder than ever before. On september 17th 1962 armstrong was introduced as one of the 9 astronauts he was one of 2 civilians in the group the rest were active military pilots these men would take part in the Gemini Program which would feature a 2 man spacecraft. And would go to that same evening armstrongs parents file and stephen were special guests on a popular t. V. Quiz program. To respond to. The new astronauts began a rigorous Training Program on board a modified air force jet to try to cope with the effects of weightlessness. The astronauts were pushed to their limits of their endurance because no one knew what dangers they might face in space it was a case of learning by doing. We choose to go to the game do the other things not be close they are easy but because they are. To help achieve this goal the u. S. Space program developed the worlds most powerful rocket and did it without the use of sophisticated computers. For insurgency when i started in 1962 i had an adding machine on my desk just a normal adding machine with a crank used to calculate trajectories we prepare complex tables and then fill them in if you dont get through to. The engineers who are now in uncharted territory no one had ever attempted a manned flight to the moon before they had to design everything from scratch. The astronauts including Neil Armstrong became americas new heroes armstrong was no stranger to personal bravery. In the spring of 1964 armstrongs house caught fire in the middle of the night but he managed to rescue both his young sons. 400000. 00 were now working on the moon project the next step would be to develop the gemini 2 manned spacecraft. The astronauts also practiced for spacewalks but here too they were playing catch up with the russians causing the not made the 1st spacewalk in march 965. The astronauts worked on docking maneuvers involving 2 spacecraft the u. S. Did this successfully for the 1st time in late 1965 past. The Space Program encountered several setbacks but learned from its mistakes. From. Birth. Landings proved especially difficult at 1st. In march 1966 Neil Armstrong and david scott took off on a mission that was marked by both success and failure the astronauts plan to dock their gemini capsule with an unmanned target vehicle. Their 1st task was to rendezvous with the vehicle. That. After the astronauts carried out the docking procedure successfully they noticed that one of the capsules thrusters had become stuck in the on position which was causing the spacecraft to rotate at high speed armstrong managed to study the spacecraft and then decided to abort the mission to me. The capsule landed safely in the Pacific Ocean southeast of japan. The gemini 8 mission was a major disappointment for the u. S. But nasa was still determined to win the space race. Was there a political aspect to your work back when it was from the swarms of t. V. We were very aware of the competition. There but was like on a. Flight that means that you have to catch. These opt out that if someone does fall short we had great my style of it of. Course was that. The u. S. Was now preparing for the 1st flight of the Apollo Program which featured a 3 man crew. But the mission would end with the deaths of 3 astronauts. Gus grissom. And roger chaffee. During a launch test in january 1967 a fire broke out in the capsules cabin and spread quickly all 3 astronauts were killed. Nasa blamed the fire on deficiencies in capsule design workmanship and quality control. The agency made improvements to the spacecraft and the operational procedures. Meanwhile nasa continued to experiment with using parachutes to return apollo capsule safely to earth. A more difficult challenge was the design and construction of the vehicle that would actually land the astronauts on the surface of the moon. Armstrong took part in flight tests of early versions of the lunar module. Armstrong took part in flight tests over earlier versions of the lunar module. Some of the astronauts called it the flying bedstead the module suffered from a number of technical problems at the start of the nation 968. 00 armstrong was at the controls when the crap started to spin out of control. Armstrong ejected safely with just seconds to spare. But time was running out for nasa to meet president kennedys call to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960 s. In december 1968 the apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman Jim Lovell and bill landers took off from the new Kennedy Space center in florida. But 968. 00 was a turbulent year. The war in vietnam was raging. Young people held antiwar protests across the country. Dr Martin Luther king was assassinated. Then on Christmas Eve 1968 the world heard a voice from space a voice that carried a message of peace and reconciliation. And in december 1968 Neil Armstrong was appointed commander of the apollo 11 mission. But the lunar lander still needed work. In may 1969 the crew of apollo 10 took part in a dress rehearsal for the moon mission the astronauts tested all the equipment and procedures that would be involved in an actual landing. The flight that would place astronauts on the surface of the moon apollo 11 was now just 2 months away. Armstrong was under enormous pressure as he revealed in a 2010 interview. This fun was. 1001 so thats a sure thing. Because also. The u. S. S. R. Was also working hard to put a man on the moon. Alexei an experienced cosmonaut was chosen to command the 1st Lunar Landing mission. The soviets had been carrying out tests of the huge and one rocket that would carry the crew into space. But in july 1969 during a test launch the latest version of the rocket exploded shortly after liftoff. Meanwhile in the u. S. Nasa sought to personalize the Space Program by publishing photos of the astronauts with their families. As the scheduled date of the moon not to approach people around the world found a new interest in space. Huge crowds gathered around the launch site the visitors were in a festive mood. On july 16th new. Armstrong buzz aldrin. And Michael Collins made their final preparations. That. Perhaps it was appropriate that a reclusive engineer not a dashing air force pilot should be the 1st man to set foot on the moon. His name was Neil Armstrong. Shortly after 7 in the morning the 3 astronauts headed for the launch pad. With. Armstrong the Mission Commander and pilot buzz aldrin will attempt a landing. Michael collins will stay on board the command module as it continues to orbit the moon. Its now been 8 years and 2 months since president kennedy gave the order. Among those doing the launch is former president lyndon johnson. The saturn 5 was the 1st u. S. Rocket that was designed and built exclusively for space flights even though it was originally proposed as a launch vehicle for military satellites. Janet armstrong and her 2 sons watched the liftoff from a friends yacht its now 1032 on the morning of july 16th. The crew reached orbit around 12 minutes after launch here they fly over the Canary Islands on an altitude of 190 kilometers. Now the crew had to make a key flight decision once they did there would be no turning back. Nearly 3 hours after liftoff the 3rd stage of the saturn 5 rocket was fired which pushed the apollo capsule into a trajectory toward the moon. About 30 minutes later the crew separated the command module from the spent 3rd stage of the rocket and docked with the eagle lunar module that was still attached to it the docking maneuver worked perfectly the apollo astronauts were now well on their way to making the dream of a moon landing come true. The crew played a cassette tape of tulsas. The theme had recently been featured in the film 2001 a space odyssey the u. S. Mission to put a man on the moon was about to become reality. But the flight controllers on the ground were concerned that an unmanned soviet spacecraft was orbiting the moon at this time the probe was to land on the lunar surface and gather soil samples whats believed to have crashed into a mountain on july 21st. We got. On the afternoon of july 19th apollo 11 swung into lunar orbit and the crew started making preparations for their descent to the moon surface. They are right back up there with. Janet armstrong hoped for the best. Landing except for Late Afternoon on july 20th armstrong and buzz aldrin now entered the eagle lunar lander and separated from the columbia command module. Armstrong steered. Lunar module standing up the vehicle had no seats to cut down on. The astronauts families followed the flight on t. V. Suddenly the modules guidance computer set off several alarms but it turned out to be nothing serious. We all feared the worst but a Mission Control technician whod seen this problem before told the crew to ignore the computer and keep going. Strong notice that the lander was headed for a rocky area so we took a piece of action. Armstrong stepped on the gas and flew the module like a helicopter knowing full well that he was running out of fuel. Breath as the reports came in 60 seconds of fuel 30. Armstrong kept his nerve and landed the module safely. Right. Ok and i. Already. Agree with you on a crown i got my forgotten about. And again. Armstrong and aldrin were now scheduled to sleep for a few hours but instead they started making preparations for leaving the lander and stepping onto the moon surface. More than anything else was just a moment that its only done somebody says if you dont get it doesnt mean its kept ill see if i do move any i dont feel to be. Back on earth an estimated 600000000 people were following these events on my t. V. Early a. Week. Before he left the module armstrong took a bag of garbage that had piled up in the cabin and tossed it out the door. And. It took 15 minutes for armstrong to climb down the letters 9 steps. Are we coming down the ladder now. Armstrongs 1st step on the moon just lasted a few seconds then he jumped back onto the ladder. Back up and. Right over here far far better quicker. With armstrong step down again this time with his left foot in Mission Control. Gave aldrin instructions on how to use the camera. In the lab for all i want thank you but i can work out of a guardedly on the big question mark. Have preferred. To get where they are are all the. Characters are. On our characters. Are all. Very very fine and very learned to give birth or other horrible. Bear very fine. Armstrong stepped away from the latter and turned toward the camera. For. A lamb out and. Then he spoke the words that would go down in history. Or am. I up. The scene was filmed by a camera attached to the outside of the lander. And michael just dying while i was climbing down and if youll pull the lever and open the Storage Panel which contained a black and white t. V. You can arrange all still under still for you know that someone got to see him climbing down the ladder so thats when you need im from a bit of to lie down i want to take on saw. Armstrong was now the star of the 1st live global t. V. Broadcast. War. Or. The whole. World was watching. The moon landing was not broadcast in the u. S. S. R. In 2010 cosmonaut Alexei Leonov described his reaction to armstrongs historic achievement. If you got the deed crossed my fingers and wished him all the best it was dangerous and i knew what could have gone wrong but he did brilliantly. 20 minutes after armstrong and buzz aldrin climbed down the ladder. Armstrong took photos of his colleagues at this turning point in the history of space travel. Ive never met. Armstrong and aldrin then examine the lunar lander for possible damage they also set up equipment to measure the moons exact distance from the earth and to study lunar earthquakes. I am right back with the astronauts climbed back into the lunar module close the hatch and sealed it. While they were moving around inside buzz aldrin created a serious technical problem. I know foot in his back to back if they bumped into the ignition switch for the ascent candidate did so i broke it off. Too for n. C. Should have been called to. Buzz aldrin used a felt tip in to activate the mechanism. Before they reentered the lunar module armstrong and aldrin left behind a commemorative plaque. During their 2 and a half hours on the moon surface the astronauts put up an American Flag. There to hold my girl youre. President Richard Nixon phoned the crew with a special message. I am sure they did i. Am i think right now a member of the. Right group. And arab man. Her iraq. A german newspaper