Topical Tens: August 5th: Neil Armstrong

Saturday 5 August 2017

August 5th: Neil Armstrong

Born on this date in 1930 was Neil Armstrong, US astronaut, and the first man to walk on the Moon. But how much do you know about the man behind the giant leap for mankind?

He was born in Ohio and was the eldest of three children - he had a younger sister and a younger brother.
He learned to fly before he learned to drive. His interest in flying could have started when he was two and his father took him to watch an air race. When he was five, he and his father took a ride in a Ford Trimotor, also known as the "Tin Goose". By the age of ten, he was doing odd jobs to save up for flying lessons. One such job was mowing the grass in a local cemetery. He qualified as a pilot when he was 16.
He was a boy scout and reached the rank of Eagle Scout, and as an adult was awarded a Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo Award. He took a scout badge with him to the moon and sent a message via Houston to say hello to all the scouts attending a National Jamboree.
He was 17 when he started studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University. He received a grant for his studies but there were strings attached. After two years of study he'd do two years flight training and serve in the US Navy for a year before completing the final two years of the degree. Students were not allowed to marry until they graduated and had to sign up for four years active duty afterwards.
Music was another interest he had during college days. He wrote and co-directed a musical for his fraternity and was a baritone player in the university's marching band.
He served in the Korean War. His first mission was as an escort for a photo reconnaissance plane over Songjin. Later on, he lost a plane when he was shot at during a bombing mission, collided with a pole while regaining control and lost part of the wing. Nevertheless, he managed to fly back to friendly territory before ejecting.
Following his graduation Armstrong became an experimental research test pilot, and flew over 200 different types of aircraft during his career.
When Armstrong applied to join the Apollo Astronaut programme, his application arrived a week late. If not for a former colleague of his, who slipped the application into the pile anyway, he might never have been accepted.
He was known for being a humble, unassuming person, without a massive ego which may have influenced the decision to make him the first man on the moon. The official reason was because of the seating arrangements in the spacecraft and the way the hatch opened, which meant it was easier for the commander to get out first - and in any case, protocol suggested the commander should step onto the moon first.
There was a hoax in the 1980s which claimed that Armstrong had heard the Muslim call to prayer on the moon and had converted to Islam. This wasn't true - Armstrong always said he was a deist, meaning he didn't believe that God revealed Himself through holy books but through creation and science; and that God did not interfere with the world and people's lives.