Neil Armstrong - A Tribute to a true hero & engineer.

Neil Armstrong; Credit Wikipedia, NASA.

Neil Alden 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 Apollo11,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 was 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 was 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 was decorated by 17 countries. He was the recipient of many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the Congressional Gold Medal; 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.

Remembering Neil Armstrong - (by Gary Slater, Professor Emeritus).

On Saturday, August 25, the United States and the world lost one of its greatest heroes. Neil

Armstrong will forever be remembered as the first man to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969 — an engineering triumph of the new United States space program. In the last few days, there have been many eloquent eulogies for Neil, recounting his career and his pinnacle achievement of the first moon landing. I would like to add my thoughts on the passing of an American

icon.

I was one of the 500 million people worldwide glued to a black and white TV in 1969 watching every bit of the Apollo 11 descent to the moon. I think my pulse rate was higher than Commander Armstrong’s during the descent and to me the most immortal words were not those

associated with the first step (“One small step for man …”), but rather the calm, almost routine sounding phrase after touchdown on the lunar surface “Houston: Tranquility

Base here: The Eagle has landed.”

While writing this article I went back and watched the video of the descent and landing on YouTube and it rekindled those same emotions I felt when I was watching it live. The landing on the moon

was a remarkable achievement that culminated the work of thousands of engineers and scientists who were working in the U.S. space program, and one remarkably talented pilot

astronaut.

After Apollo, Neil Armstrong retired from NASA, and shortly afterwards in 1971 he joined the University of Cincinnati as a Professor of Aerospace Engineering. I came shortly after in 1972. I knew most of the faculty already (I had received my degree there several years earlier) but

meeting Professor Armstrong as a colleague was something I will never forget.

All the stories about his quiet demeanor, his sense of humor, his lack of ego, are all true. It is hard to

imagine a more reluctant hero than Neil. He never really thought of himself as a hero — he was asked to do a job and he did it. Flying the Apollo capsule to the moon was no different to him than flying the X-15 research aircraft, or any one of the many other aircraft he flew during his

career as a naval officer and as a NASA test pilot.

As a faculty colleague we discussed aircraft flight dynamics (we both taught those courses), and for a few lectures of mine he even sat in the back of the room taking notes! Talk about pressure! Mostly we chatted about non-technical things. Over a beer at the faculty club we could discuss the soybean crop at his Lebanon, Ohio farm or other equally unremarkable current events.

Remarkably, we never discussed the Apollo program — I was not going to initiate

that conversation, and he never mentioned that aspect of

his career.

He left the university quite suddenly in 1979 and for the most part lived a quiet life away from the limelight, and I had no personal contact with him after that. In recent years, however, he quite publicly expressed disappointment and concern about the direction of the space program.

Retiring the Shuttle with no replacement in sight for years was clearly an issue for him. The nation that was first to the moon, that later built and flew the Space Shuttle, that built a massive space station in orbit, now has to buy a ride to the station on a Russian rocket.

Neil Armstrong’s final legacy is that of a reluctant hero who was a vital part of perhaps the most remarkable technical achievement in the history of mankind. Clearly NASA could not have chosen a more fitting person to carry the burden of that first Moon step. We will miss him greatly.

Professor Neil Armstrong - (by Ralph Spitzen, ASE ’74, MBA ’76).

My classmates and I speculated that Neil grew up with two dreams.

The first was to be a farmer. The other, to fly, took him on the

journey of Apollo 11 atop the shoulders of a team of 400,000 people and the

aspirations of countless others. The historic proportions of this voyage were

entered over forty years ago in the timeline of the world.

There is great comfort to return to one’s roots after a long and risky

journey and no one deserved this more than Neil. Neil’s purchase of a farm in

Southwestern Ohio took him home and opened two new doors for him —

farming and teaching future aerospace engineers how to push the envelope

of man and machine.

Neil has been described as a reluctant hero, an iconic figure, and a test

pilot’s test pilot. My classmates and I had the great fortune to see another

side of Neil — a great aviator who was comfortable making paper airplanes

in UC’s Armory Fieldhouse and a professor who enjoyed having beers with

students after final exams. He showed frustration when his assistant was

forced to interrupt class because a NASA administrator refused to wait for

a call back but he tolerated the antics of our class when we got restless or

when a famous Italian actress turned photojournalist converted our Baldwin

Hall classroom into a photo-shoot backdrop. About that photo shoot,the

photojournalist was Gina Lollobrigida, one of the most popular European

actresses of the 1950s and 1960s. She recently photographed Henry Kissinger

and Fidel Castro and was now in Cincinnati to capture images of Neil and his

Students.

Many have written that Neil had nerves of steel. I think he was a man

with an extraordinary ability to adapt and learn both on the fly (no pun

intended) and with incredible speed. Couple that with a sixth sense when it

came to timing in the face of escalating risks and you have the right stuff to

be Apollo 11’s commander.

I remember my Control Theory professor set up a stability simulation

problem using an analog computer. The goal of the simulation was for the

operator pilot to use a joystick and keep a pen centered on a small plotter that

was wired to the computer. Most of us could keep the pen centered for a few

seconds, indicating we had the system under control, but then each of us lost

control and the pen quickly skewed to an edge of the plotter indicating we

crashed. Neil took his turn at the simulator. The professor then said that Neil

just set the record for maintaining control the longest with this simulation.

Neil ejected from a flight of the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle as the

Flying Bedstead (the LLTV’s nickname) became unstable and spun out of

control at about 100 feet above the ground. A half-second further delay

in ejecting would have resulted in the parachute not opening in time. Neil

landed safely and walked away suffering only from a bloody tongue. Weber

Aircraft manufactured the ejection system and awarded Neil with the ejection

handle handsomely mounted on a simple plaque. The plaque honored his

entry into the Turtle Club where he joined other aviators who paid the price of

admission by safely ejecting from their aircraft.

Alongside the Weber Turtle Club plaque in Neil’s Rhodes Hall office was a

prescription bottle with pills for motion sickness. The pills were not prescribed

by a physician but rather presented to Neil by a Soviet Cosmonaut with best

wishes for a safe journey to the moon and then back home. This was a most

interesting gesture considering the state of the Space Race between the

Soviet Union and the United States.

If I had the opportunity to ask Neil to reflect on his accomplishments

he likely would have turned our discussion to the future and said something

like — our teams achieved the dreams of generations but what’s really

important is what we do next.

The first man to walk on the moon also liked keeping his feet on the

earth and his eyes to the sky and that’s the Neil Armstrong my classmates

and I knew.

Skill and Dedication by Mark Stear, BSAsE, ’78

Professor Neil Armstrong had that rare capability to present an aerodynamic concept on the blackboard in its

theoretical form, then put down the chalk and turn to the class and describe a personal experience from his days as

a test pilot to bring the concept to life. Through this process, my classmates and I gained a solid understanding of aerodynamics as well as a glimpse into the realities of flight-testing. We learned that even though things don’t always go as

planned, the laws of physics and aerodynamics always prevail.

Neil demonstrated that reality again during my first year as a performance engineer at Gates Learjet Corporation

(Bombardier Aerospace Learjet today). 

Neil served on the Board of Directors at Learjet throughout most of the 1970s and

the Board wanted some publicity for its new, high-performance Learjet Model 28. So, in February 1979 Neil set a time to-climb record in the first production Learjet 28 from sea level to 15,000 meters (49,213 ft.) in 12 minutes, 26.7 seconds.

I was one of two Learjet engineers selected to calculate the optimum climb profile used by the crew to set the record, and

was on site with the support crew at First Flight Airport in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina when the mission was flown.

Just prior to boarding the Learjet 28 at Kitty Hawk, Neil approached the other engineer, Dave, and myself to discuss

a last minute unexpected change in the takeoff profile. It seems that air traffic control had cleared the flight through an unrestricted climb corridor to the Southeast out over the Atlantic Ocean, but the runway orientation and surface winds

at Kitty Hawk necessitated a takeoff to the Northeast. Neil explained that rather than a straight-out climb as he and his co-pilot, Pete Reynolds (a Learjet test pilot) had practiced in Wichita the day before, they would have to make a substantial

right turn immediately after takeoff to establish the proper heading for which the flight had been cleared. 

Neil was asking us whether a gradual turn to the right while accelerating, or an immediate turn at low speed before accelerating would result in the lowest energy usage. Hmmm, Dave and I were scratching our heads and fumbling for our calculators when Neil suggested that an immediate right turn before accelerating seemed like the best choice for him. We looked at each other, still dumbfounded by the unexpected change in our carefully calculated mission, and simultaneously agreed, “Yup, sounds good to us Neil, we think that would be best!” To this day, I’m not sure we ever really knew which type of turning maneuver was best, but who was going to challenge the gut instincts of Neil Armstrong on an aircraft performance

Question?!

The resulting takeoff was quite spectacular as I watched the Learjet from the side of the runway make an abrupt right turn with a steep nose-up orientation at treetop level (do not try this at home) while leveling off for the initial acceleration to 250 knots before commencing the record climb. Less than 12.5 minutes later, a new world record had been set as the Learjet zoomed through 15,000 meters and the crew turned back toward a planned landing at Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

At this point, the flight test plan simply called for a gradual descent at idle power back to Elizabeth City, some 28 nautical miles from Kitty Hawk. To

keep the plane as light as possible, only enough fuel to make the climb and return to base, with minimal reserves was loaded. Neil and Pete had practiced this mission several times in Wichita and we had a good handle on the fuel required for the mission.

What none of us had planned, though, was the fact that as they turned back toward Elizabeth City. they now realized the winds aloft were blowing at nearly 100 knots, from the Northwest — direct headwind! 

What was planned as a leisurely descent at idle power quickly became an anxious seat-of-the-pants exercise in energy management to minimize fuel flow while maximizing forward ground speed. Fuel flow is lowest at high altitude, but that’s where the strongest winds were. 

Neil and Pete were the two best pilots to handle this problem, and Pete later shared the story of their conversation in the cockpit while on a long final approach into Elizabeth City. The conversation reportedly went something like this: Neil: “How much fuel do we have, Pete?” Pete: “Well, the ‘LEFT’ tank reads 250 pounds, the ‘RIGHT’ tank reads 150 pounds, but if I put the selector on ‘BOTH’ it reads 500 pounds.” Neil: “Keep the selector on ‘BOTH’!”

The flight ended safely at Elizabeth City as planned and we all enjoyed a celebratory dinner that night at the hotel. The next morning as we gathered around the record setting Learjet Model 28 to prepare for departure, a Learjet mechanic

climbed into the cockpit to start the engines and taxi the plane across the ramp for refueling. As the left jet engine roared to life and was settling to its idle speed, it had no sooner stabilized than it suddenly flamed out and quietly spooled down.

The engine had quit from fuel starvation. That was it. There was no more fuel in the plane! 

We then realized just how close Neil and Pete (and the official NAA observer) had come to falling a bit short of their goal. Just as Neil’s skillful piloting

had landed him and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 with less than 30 seconds of fuel remaining, the same piloting skills and keen engineering instincts brought him to a safe landing in a Learjet ten years later with less than 30 seconds of fuel Remaining.

After the plane was refueled that morning, I had the privilege of riding as a passenger in the same Learjet 28 with Professor Armstrong and Pete Reynolds at the controls, as we took Neil from Elizabeth City back to Cincinnati on that

sunny Tuesday morning so he could teach his next class at UC! Though a few minutes late to class, it’s clear that he was as dedicated to his students as he was to the board of directors.

It is rare that a professor of any subject can draw upon their years of real life experience to convey that subject to their students. UC and my fellow Aerospace Engineering students of the ‘70s had the privilege of working and learning from one

of the best. He will be missed greatly by all who knew him.

Childhood & Early Life

Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, at Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was the eldest child of Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise. He had a younger sister, June, and a younger brother, Dean. Since his father was employed as an auditor for the government, much of his early life was spent travelling from one city to another.

His love for flying grew quite early when his father took him to the Cleveland Air Races. He was just two-year-old at that time. At the age of five, he experienced his first ever airplane flight. This left an indelible mark on the mind of young Neil.

He attended the Blume High School at Wapakoneta, Ohio. Alongside, he took flying lessons and earned his student light certificate at the age of 16. He was an active member of the Boy Scouts and soon climbed up the ranks to become an Eagle Scout.

In 1947, he enrolled at Purdue University to study aeronautical engineering. He was sponsored by the Holloway Plan, according to which it was mandatory for him to serve the U.S. Navy for three years.

After his engineering course, he was called to join the service in 1949, and asked to report to Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training. After about 18 months of rigorous training, he finally qualified as a naval aviator in August 1950.

After undertaking a few routine assignments, he saw action for the first time in the Korean War, in August 1951, when he flew as an escort for a photo reconnaissance plane over Songjin.

In his three years career in the U. S. Navy, he flew 78 missions over Korea for a total of 121 hours. He left the Navy on August 23, 1952, and became a Lieutenant, Junior Grade, in the U.S. Naval Reserve, where he served for eight years before resigning in 1960.

Re-joining university, he finally attained his graduation degree in 1955. Further in 1970, he obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Career

In 1955, with an aim to become an experimental research test pilot, he applied for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). However, due to no open positions, his application was forwarded to the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, where he began working.

He moved back to NACA after a couple of months. His first assignment was to pilot chase planes during releases of experimental aircraft from modified bombers.

During his seventeen years of service for National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA (formerly known as NACA), he served in various capacities including as an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator.

As a research pilot, he tested many high-speed aircraft, including the X-15, which could reach a top speed of 4,000 miles per hour. Overall, he flew about 200 different models of aircraft, including jets, rockets, helicopters and gliders.

Year 1958, marked his selection in the U.S. Air Force's Man In Space Soonest program. Two years later, he was chosen as part of the pilot consultant group for the X-20 Dyna-Soar. In 1962, he finally made it in the top seven pilot engineers who would fly space plane.

He became the first American civilian to travel in space. His first mission with the Gemini VII was as Command Pilot, which launched on March 16, 1966. Originally planned to last 75 hours and 55 orbits, the spacecraft returned 11 hours after its start due to technical problems.

His last assignment for the Gemini program was for Gemini 11, wherein he worked as a back-up Command Pilot. The launch was scheduled for September 12, 1966 with Armstrong as a CAPCOM.

On December 23, 1968, he was appointed to the post of the commander for Apollo 11. Buzz Aldrin was lunar module pilot while Michael Collins served as command module pilot.

The trio landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, a few seconds after 20:17:40 UTC. Armstrong became the first to land on the Moon. His first words were, ‘That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’.

After a brief walk on the Moon which lasted for about two hours, he re-entered the spacecraft and journeyed back to Earth. They landed in the Pacific Ocean and were picked up by USS Hornet.

After spending 18 days in quarantine, he along with the crew moved around the world as part of a 45-day ``Giant Leap’ tour. Post his Apollo 11 flight, he announced his plan of not flying in space again.

In 1970, he was appointed as the Deputy Associate Administrator for aeronautics for the Office of Advanced Research and Technology, Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), but served the same for a year, resigning from it and NASA.

He took up a teaching position at the University of Cincinnati in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. He remained in the position for about eight years, resigning in 1979.

Meanwhile, he acted as a spokesperson for several US businesses including General Time Corporation and the Bankers Association of America. Additionally, he was a member of the board of directors of several companies such as Marathon Oil, Learjet, Cinergy, Taft Broadcasting, United Airlines, Eaton Corporation, AIL Systems and Thiokol.

Major Works

With his appointment as an astronaut, he became NASA’s first civilian to fly in space. However, the most spectacular achievement of his life was undertaking the Apollo 11 mission, which was the first manned mission to Moon. He became the first man ever to walk on the Moon surface, which lasted for a little over two hours.

Awards & Achievements

He was conferred with many prestigious awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Congressional Space Medal of Honor, Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, Sylvanus Thayer Award and Collier Trophy from the National Aeronautics Association.

Furthermore, he received the Congressional Gold Medal, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Langley Gold Medal, American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award and the John J.

Montgomery Award

He was inducted in the Aerospace Walk of Honor and the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.

An asteroid in space and a lunar crater has been named after him. Furthermore, several schools, institutions, streets, buildings, airports and public squares across the globe have been named after him.

He received the 2013 General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award from the Space Foundation

Personal Life & Legacy

He walked down the aisle with Janet Elizabeth Shearon on January 28, 1956, at the Congregational Church in Wilmette, Illinois. The couple was blessed with three children.

He underwent bypass surgery to relieve blocked coronary arteries on August 7, 2012. A few days later, on August 25, he breathed his last.

He is the first man ever to walk on the surface of the Moon. 

The Apollo 11 mission inspired the world. What has happened in the ensuing half-century? Go here and find out more.