Damian Harvey - History Heroes: Neil Armstrong

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Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, USA in 1930. Not many people could afford to fly in aeroplanes so who could have dreamed that one day, Neil would fly all the way to the Moon? When he was very young, Neils father took him to see the National Air Races in Cleveland. Neil loved aeroplanes and he dreamt about flying in one. Then, when he was only six years old, Neils dream came true. His father took him for an aeroplane ride. The aircraft they flew in was made of metal.

Everyone called it the Tin Goose. Sitting next to his father, Neil listened to the roar of the engines and gazed through the window at the streets and houses far below. From that moment on, Neil wanted to be a pilot. Neil was shy and wasnt very good at sport, but he loved music and reading. He also loved building model aeroplanes. He got a job cutting grass so he could buy more models to build.

At night, Neil gazed at the stars and the Moon though their neighbours telescope.

When he was thirteen, Neil started to have flying lessons. But they were very expensive! Neil had to get a job baking and work in a shop. It was boring work but Neil kept on dreaming of flying high above the clouds. On his sixteenth birthday, Neil got the best present ever his pilots licence. Neil wanted to go to college to learn about aircraft engineering but this was also very expensive. Neil wanted to go to college to learn about aircraft engineering but this was also very expensive.

The Navy said they would pay for him to go if he joined the Navy for a few years afterwards. There were lots of pilots in the Navy so Neil agreed. Neil worked hard at college but, in 1949, he had to leave half-way through his second year. The United States of America were preparing for war with Korea and they needed good pilots. Neil learnt to fly jet fighters that could land and take off from huge aircraft carriers. After the war, Neil went back to college to finish his studies, but he couldnt wait to get back in the air. After the war, Neil went back to college to finish his studies, but he couldnt wait to get back in the air.

Neil was a brave pilot and was awarded three medals. On one dangerous mission his plane was damaged and he had to eject.

The US government were busy building new kinds of aeroplanes that could fly faster and higher than ever before. The Air Force needed brave pilots to test them. Neil was happy to be one of them. The most exciting aircraft that Neil flew was the X-15 rocket plane.

It could travel at speeds of over four thousand miles an hour. It could even fly up to the edge of space. From that high the Earth looked like a huge ballbut Neil wanted to fly even higher. If only they could build an aircraft that could fly up into space! The Soviet Union and the Americans were racing to send a human into outer space. Then, in 1961, the Soviet Union did it Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. President John F.

Kennedy promised that America would beat them by sending a man to the Moon. John Glenn was the first American in space and Neil was determined to fly there too. But he wasnt the only one. Hundreds of pilots applied to join NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) so they could learn to be astronauts. But only nine of them were chosen Neil Armstrong was one of them. Training to be an astronaut was hard.

He learnt how it would feel to be in outer space where there is no gravity. Neil used a simulator to practise flying a space capsule. He even had to learn how to walk in a space suit. After years of training, Neil was finally ready to go into space. NASA named him as commander of the Gemini 8 Space Mission. Their mission was to dock with another spacecraft in space.

This was very important if they ever hoped to fly to the Moon.

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