Seven months earlier, Apollo 8 orbited the moon. On July 16th, Apollo 11 blasted off for the moon. This time, two of the three astronauts would step onto the surface of the moon. These men would become legends, and their names would be remembered forever in history. The only astronaut whose name may not be famaliar is that of the Command Module Pilot, Michael Collins. The Commander was, of course, Neil Armstrong, and the Lunar Module Pilot was Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. The life story of both of these men is quite interesting, and it deserves some discussion.
Buzz attended West Point and graduated from there in 1951 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Then, he fought in the Korean War as a fighter pilot. After the war, Buzz earned his Doctor of Science in astronautics. Then, he was selected in the third class of astronauts. His Apollo 11 mission would be his second space mission.
Neil flew combat missions during the Korean War as well. After the war, he attended college at Purdue where he received a degree in aeronautical engineering. After this, he became a test pilot and had a few mishaps, but he always escaped without serious injury. In 1961, he became part of the New Nine, the second class of astronauts. His first space mission was Gemini 8 were the vehicle began to spin out of control. The astronauts were seconds away from blacking out when Armstrong saved the mission by switching to the Reentry Control System to gain control of the spacecraft. Then, he commanded Gemini 11 which was successfully completed. While training for Apollo 11, Armstrong flew a Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) to help simulate landing in a real setting. The vehicle began banking and Armstong lost control. He then ejected, and, again, narrowly avoided disaster.
Once Apollo 11 took off for the moon, it had few problems. As they were landing, the LEM was ahead of its intended position by two seconds. Because Armstrong was worried about landing on unsafe terrain, he took manual control of the LEM and landed in a safe area in the crater known as the Sea of Tranquility on July 20th, 1969. The astronauts went for an EVA (extravehicular activity aka a walk) soon after landing. They only spent 2.5 hours on the surface. Then, they blasted off of the moon's surface and rendevoused with the Command Module. They went back to Earth, and the rest is history.
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