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Neil Armstrong movie ‘First Man’ omits the American flag being planted on the moon, and star Ryan Gosling defended the decision: ‘I don’t think that Neil viewed himself as an American hero’
Scratch my plans to go and see this movie.
Early life and career (Britannica)
Neil Armstrong was the eldest of three children born to Viola Louise Engel and Stephen Koenig Armstrong, a state auditor. Neil’s passion for aviation and flight was kindled when he took his first airplane ride at age 6. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable. He became a licensed pilot on his 16th birthday and a naval air cadet in 1947. His studies in aeronautical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, were interrupted in 1950 by his service in the Korean War, during which he was shot down once and was awarded three Air Medals. He completed his degree in 1955 and immediately became a civilian research pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), later the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He flew more than 1,100 hours, testing various supersonic fighters as well as the X-15 rocket plane.
In 1962 Armstrong joined the space program with its second group of astronauts. On March 16, 1966, Armstrong, as command pilot of Gemini 8, and David R. Scott rendezvoused with an unmanned Agena rocket and completed the first manual space docking maneuver. After the docking, a rocket thruster malfunction sent the spacecraft into an uncontrolled spin and forced them to separate from the Agena. Armstrong then regained control of the Gemini craft and made an emergency splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
related:
I read a book about Mr Armstrong and his mates when I was a kid. I think it was called “The Right Stuff”. I remember my Mum coming into my room late at night and telling me to turn the light off and go to sleep. I must get another copy.
See what you’ve done now? No sleep for days.
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The book is excellent, the author Tom Wolfe just passed away recently. They made a pretty decent movie from the book too.
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