Neil Armstrong, Research Paper Example

Neil Armstrong is a man among men and the epitome of what embodies an explorer. Throughout his daring and expeditious career starting in the United States Navy, NACA, the United States Air Force and ultimately NASA, he reached the furthest and most treacherous spans of human existence. Armstrong grew up in the small town of Wapakoneta, Ohio. Although he was born in this small town he did not stay in the same place for an extended amount of time (Dixon-Engle and Jackson 2008). Throughout his childhood he moved frequently as a result of his father’s career in the Ohio state government. When Armstrong was six years old his father took him on his first flight. The upbringing of being able to move around, embrace the change of new places and embody a love of flight would become the premonition of the stellar aviation career of Armstrong.

Neil began studying aerospace engineering at the Purdue University in 1947. He was following his love of flight through both education and hobby. Although he was attending college he had held his private pilot’s license longer than he held his driver’s license. He continued his education there for two years until his call to duty in January 1949. He reported to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola Florida for flight training (Cassutt 1987).

The training lasted for eighteen months and just slightly after his twentieth birthday he had become a fully qualified Naval Aviator. This included all of the rigors and military training all of the soldiers, airmen and seamen were enduring but also extending to aviation training and carrier landings. He was then transferred to his first duty station in San Diego and was assigned to the Fighter Squadron 51 (Cassett 1987). This was a fighter squadron built for the upcoming aerial battles that would occur over the Korean air space. The squadron was equipped with all jets such as the F9F-2B Panther.

He would pilot this jet into his first mission into battle. His role was to maintain air superiority as an escort for a reconnaissance plan strategically snapping photos in order to plan land maneuvers. It was only a few short action packed months later that Armstrong continued on his low flying close air support mission when his jet was struck by an anti-aircraft missile ripping a large portion of his wing and aileron. This created the precocious situation where it was not safe for the air craft to land. This provided the only other alternative of an ejection from the jet. At first the plan was to eject over water but the winds shifted as he was descending and he landed in an area patrolled by a coincidentally familiar face. He was retrieved by his roommate from his flight school in Pensacola.

Armstrong continued his flight career with the Navy until he resigned his commission in October of 1960. He had flown 78 combat missions amassing 121 hours of flight time (Hansen 2005). Armstrong left active duty after three years of honorable duty but he did not leave the naval force ultimately at that point. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade in the United States Reserve. While he was in the Naval Reserves he continued his education at Purdue and with a renewed sense of dedication and motivation graduated in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering (Hansen 2005).

The thrill of flight and the thirst for adventure lead Armstrong to apply to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. He was trying to become part of the High Speed Flight Station. He was originally rejected from the position he was trying to acquire at Edwards Air Force Base but based on his highly touted record in the Korean War and his solid well-rounded education they forwarded his information to the a propulsion laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio (Cernan and Davis 1999).

The drive of Armstrong showed that he would not take no for an answer and after only a few short months he had gained permission to begin his start as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base. As a test pilot there were many tests of intestinal fortitude but one in particular almost ended Armstrong exploratory career before it took flight itself. As the co-pilot of an experimental bomber that was labeled a B-29 but was heavily modified to carry top secret skyrockets as payload, the pilot and co-pilot team experienced engine problems that lead to the ultimate decimation of three out of the four engines (Hansen 2005). After some quick reactions and a reliance on their ingenuity and training the team was able to drop the payload and land safely.

Neil Armstrong has at this point achieved the status of battle tested fighter pilot, college graduate with an engineering degree and a test pilot at one of the most storied time of aviation history only rivaled by that of the first flight. Armstrong then took his career to new heights by submitting his application to the United States Air Force’s program called “Man in Space Soonest” or MISS program (Hansen 2005). In 1962 he was selected to become part of what would ultimately be the first test pilots of the military space planes called the X-20 Dyna-Soar (Tyson, 2012).

Armstrong was selected in the summer of 1962 to become part of the new crew of astronauts that would be tasked to become part of the Gemini program. This program had one a challenging task that would bring the ability to extend the space programs reach. Just as in air refueling has extended the range of the aircraft Armstrong piloted through the atmosphere, the Gemini program was charged with the task to perform a docking maneuver between two spacecraft in orbit. After performing this mission and achieving a safe and secure landing, Armstrong became more of a mentor and teacher to the new up and coming astronauts for other Gemini missions.

Following the Gemini missions the Apollo program initiated. Armstrong served various roles including the back-up commander to Apollo 8 (Harland, 1999). This set the stage for him to take part in the Apollo 11 mission. The Apollo 11’s main objective was to put a man on the moon. President Kennedy set the strategic intent of the nation to be the first country to put a man on the moon. This was an incredibly huge undertaking considering the technological advancement and previous astronauts experience in space flight. Throughout Armstrong’s career as a collegiate student and aviator he always took the extra step to push the envelope of what has been done by other men. He achieved his success through intelligence, drive and humility. This drive and humility won the hearts and minds of his crew and because of this he was selected to be the first man to step foot on the moon (Harland 1999).

The amazing feats achieved for Armstrong to step onto the moon were reached in both the arenas of technology and human capability. In comparison the spacecraft that took the astronauts to the moon, landed and then returned were powered by a computer that could be handled by a common desktop by today’s standards. While preparing to land on the moon, multiple error codes were racing across Armstrong’s screen. Even with extensive knowledge of spaceflight and the craft itself the errors were unknown. The craft was speeding faster and faster toward to the moon’s surface when NASA reported back that the error codes were flashed due to the fact that the computer could not handle multiple radar calculations. The human factor played a role in the ability to achieve Armstrong’s walk on the moon because although they have trained and have actually been in space they have not walked on the moon. The risk of space sickness and disorientation were high and could jeopardize the mission. Armstrong remained calm and controlled his vertigo by performing breathing exercises he learned as a young aviator in Korea (Nelson 2009).

As an explorer, Neil Armstrong explored not only the outer reaches of man’s imagination by touching the moon but he also broke through technological boundaries as well as testing physics, science and mathematics as we knew them. Always teetering on the edge of sanity and ludicrousness, he enabled the exploration of space by leading from the front of the charge to new horizons both physically and philosophically. He literally took exploration of space to the furthest it has ever been by taking that first step. Neil Armstrong explored the frontier of space, facing unknown risks but achieving unparalleled feats.

References

Cassutt, M. (1987). First man. Chicago, Il, Simon & Schuster.

Cernan, E. and Davis, D. (1999). The Last Man on the Moon. New York: St Martin’s Griffin.

Hansen, J. (2005). First man: the life of neil a. armstrong . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Dixon-Engle, T. and Jackson, M. (2008). Neil Armstrong: one giant leap for mankind. Sterling Publishing.

Harland, David (1999). Exploring the moon: the apollo expeditions. Glasgow, UK. Springer

Tyson, N. D. (2012). Space chronicles: Facing the ultimate fronteir. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Nelson, C. (2009) Rocket men: the epic story of the first men on the moon. United Kingdom: John Murray.