Lunar stories Before scientists began working to get astronauts into space science fiction writers made up stories about people being towed to the Moon by geese or flown aboard hot-air balloons In his 1865 book From the Earth to the Moon Jules Verne described three men traveling to the Moon on a rocket This was a remarkable prediction of the Apollo 11 Moon mission that took place 84 years later
TOP PLACE IN SPACE Sending three astronauts to the Moon aboard Apollo 11 was one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments However just 12 years earlier the United States did not even have the technology to launch a rocket into space At that time it was losing a race to space against its rival the Soviet Union Only an ambitious plan like a Moon landing would get the United States on top All it had to do was design and build the spacecraft and train astronauts to fly in them Neil Armstrong became the most famous of these astronauts
Edwin Buzz Aldrin is shown stepping onto the Moon to join Neil Armstrong who is taking the photograph
EARLY FLYER Neil Alden Armstrong was born in the small town of Wapakoneta Ohio on August 5 1930 He first became fascinated with flying at two years old This was when his father took him to an airshow in Cleveland Ohio Armstrong spent his childhood building model planes and working after school to pay for flying lessons After graduating from high school Armstrong studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University He then flew fighter jets for the U S Navy in the Korean War During one mission Armstrong had to eject from his jet after being hit by enemy fire from the ground It was the first of several near misses that Armstrong would experience during his career TEST PILOT In 1955 Armstrong became a research pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics NACA He tested helicopters gliders and over 200 different models of high-speed aircraft One such aircraft was the rocket powered X-15 jet which could fly at 4,520 miles 7,274 kilometers per hour In 1958 NACA turned into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA the agency that would send Armstrong to the Moon
