Neil Armstrong, In His Own Words
The first moonwalker's storied aviation career
- By Tony Reichhardt
- AirSpaceMag.com, August 27, 2012
NASA
On Gemini 8, Armstrong and Scott executed the first-ever space docking by linking their Gemini capsule to an Agena target vehicle in orbit. This excerpt from the onboard voice recording captures the astronauts’ excitement as they slowly approached the Agena:
Scott: You're 900 feet [away]. 5 feet per second.
Armstrong: That's just unbelievable! Unbelievable! I can't believe it!
Scott: Yes, I can't either. Outstanding job, Coach!
Armstrong: Way to go, partner!
Scott: You did it, boy! You did a good job!
Armstrong: It takes two to tango.
Scott: Say again?
Armstrong: It takes two of us.
Shortly after docking, though, the astronauts found themselves in a full-blown emergency when a stuck thruster sent their spacecraft tumbling at 60 revolutions per minute. Armstrong struggled to regain control, as dramatized in the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and their mission had to be aborted.
Scott (left) and Armstrong are pictured shortly after their ocean splashdown.
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Comments (6)
A brush with death and he bites his tongue, is that the secret to a successful carrier that includes Washington? I was just exiting teenage hood when he and Buzz landed, a young adult who had followed the race and was ready to do my part when reality and the economy of the '70s hit. When someone tries to win an argument with things were different then say yes, there were not as many negative people then. After the moon many of us felt we could solve any problem with out today's collateral damage with today's solutions. Enough regulations now there are few home built solar collectors compared to then. Those were heady times to bad we ruined it with the Department of Education. Neil and Buzz will always be my role models.
Posted by Terry on August 27,2012 | 04:40 PM
Who shall be the next Amstrong in America. Who shall be fearless like the late hero?
Posted by Gift on August 29,2012 | 01:47 AM
There shall never be another Armstrong in America....another fearless hero. We are too advanced now...or, in the words of William Shatner's narrative during the opening credits of Star Trek: "Space, the final frontier." Space truly is the final frontier and now matter now if we put a man (or woman) on Mars, Venus or Jupiter, it will not have the same excitement or drama as Armstrong's lunar landing. It was the FIRST time man ventured from the earth and stood on ground not part of the earth. We were still relatively naive with regards to space travel. It hadn't been that long since the Apollo 1 fire claimed the lives of three American astronauts. There were still many questions regarding whether Armstrong and Aldrin could safely lift off of the moon and return to earth.
Now, spaceflight has become so routine, we hardly pay any attention to a launch or a landing.
No, there will never again be a hero the likes of Neil Armstrong. There will never be a "next" one...
Posted by Thomas Carr on August 30,2012 | 04:58 PM
He was a quiet emissary for Earth and for the United States. I was a little kid when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon but recall all the excitement. It changed history and brought President Kennedy's challenge to fruition.
We need more challenges that make us stretch and grow, and less challenges like militarism and arms races that simply waste our precious resources -- including human life. Thank of all that we can accomplish by working together as a species!
Posted by Ken O'Brien on September 5,2012 | 12:00 PM
Neil Armstrong like Charles Lindbergh were "Firsts", neither basked in the limelight. Just quietly moving into history without fanfare, unique American qualities.
Posted by Ben M. Colcol on September 22,2012 | 06:17 PM
Why do we not have a national holiday for Neil Armstrong??? He is clearly one of the bravest men this country and the world has ever known.
Posted by Don Bille on January 2,2013 | 11:01 PM