Obs buzz aldrin race into space1/21/2024 ![]() ![]() He flew 78 combat missions for the Navy during the Korean War and then spent seven years as a test pilot, including pioneering flights in the X-15 rocket plane that carried him to the edge of space. He attended Purdue University, earning a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering, and then moved on to the University of Southern California where he earned a master's degree. 5, 1930, Armstrong earned his pilot's license before he was old enough to legally drive a car. Circumstance put me in that particular role."īorn in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on Aug. "I was just chosen to command that flight. "I wasn't chosen to be first," Armstrong said. Given the crush of training, the pressure to pull off a daring mission in the glare of international publicity and the stratospheric fame that came after their return to Earth, it's not surprising, perhaps, that Collins described the trio as "amiable strangers" in his well-regarded memoir "Carrying the Fire." The Apollo 11 crew, left to right: mission commander Neil Armstrong, command module pilot Mike Collins and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin. in orbital mechanics from MIT and helped perfect the rendezvous techniques needed by Apollo crews.Ĭollins, one of the most articulate astronauts, was an equally accomplished pilot who thoughtfully accepted his role as the man who would stay behind in lunar orbit while his more famous crewmates descended to the surface. Aldrin, like Armstrong a Korean War fighter pilot, earned a Ph.D. And they all had very different personalities.Īrmstrong was the consummate test pilot who flew the fabled X-15 rocket plane to the edge of space and cooly overcame in-flight emergencies. All three were accomplished spaceflight veterans, top-notch pilots and experts on Apollo's myriad systems. NASA legends remember the nerve-wracking moments before moon landing 06:21Īpollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin and command module pilot Mike Collins were assigned to the first moon-landing mission in January 1969, six months before launch. ![]()
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