NASA Remembers Cmdr. Neil Armstrong - One Year After His Death

[LongTomH]

Navy Commander Neil Armstrong deserves to be remembered for his service as a combat, then test pilot, then astronaut, then professor.

Armstrong flew:

• The X-15 (1960),
  
• Gemini 8 (1965),
  
• Apollo 11 (1969)

[Wilms]

1. I remember him often.

His peace-hoping "Tranquility Base" pronouncement, and that cherubic smile.



Thanks for posting this.

[enlightenment]

2. I painted (a copy) of that photo

on the wall of my flight commons room when I was in Basic training. That and an SR-71 were my claim to fame (because my fitness run times sure as hell weren't!)

Extraordinary man.

[Wilms]

3. You can post that if you'd like!

[enlightenment]

5. Wish I could -

but they were both murals, painted on concrete block walls. That was in the 70s - I'm sure they are long gone by now! I suspect the entire squadron building is long gone.

[ramapo]

4. That was a wonderful tribute

He was a fortunate man, not to mention one with nerves of steel.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. He and Dave Scott almost died in Gemini 8...

It was the first docking in space. They had a retro rocket malfunction that sent them into a violent roll that could have resulted in the astronauts blacking out. A condition that would have continued right up until they slammed into the atmosphere and burned up on reentry.

[LastDemocratInSC]

8. The issue on Gemini 8 was a stuck thruster, not the retro rocket.

An electrical issue in the main thruster control ring caused the out-of-control spacecraft. Armstrong switched to the thruster ring reserved for re-entry and was able to regain control. Mission rules required a quick re-entry if the backup thruster ring was used because, at that point, there was no backup system left - they were using it.

The likely scenario, if the stuck thruster had not been stopped, would have been that the crew would have become disoriented and eventually incapacitated from the increasingly violent motions and the craft would have broken apart in orbit, probably the adapter section separating from the re-entry capsule. It would have been a very bad day.

Armstrong reported during the event that he "needed to cage his eyeballs" which is a reference to caging gyroscopes, locking them in position. They were in getting into very dangerous territory at that point.

It's interesting that he had experienced dangerous situations in most of the craft he had flown ... some very dangerous things ... but had always managed to get back on solid ground alive.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. It was that skill that made him the commander of the first moon landing....

I remember the press at the time called ALL guidance rockets "retro rockets". Probably because they were used to sci-fi which called them that.

[Wilms]

10. "get back on solid ground alive"

Here's a video of a luner lander test rig excercise where he survived a malfunction...and then headed back to the office!

http://www.airspacemag.com/video/Armstrongs-Close-Call.html

[LastDemocratInSC]

7. Armstrong flew only 2 space flights ... Gemini 8 and Apollo 11.

Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon flew Gemini 11.

Armstrong also flew a B29 modified to drop early high-speed rocket propelled aircraft at Edwards AFB. On one such flight the propeller on one of the engines disintegrated and sliced through the aircraft, severing most of the control cables. Armstrong was able to land the plane and upon inspection they learned that the control yoke had only a few working control cable strands left intact.

Armstrong had a knack ... as on the Gemini 8 mission ... for getting himself, and his craft and crew, back safely.

[LongTomH]

11. My error! Thanks for pointing that out!