"First Man" released 2018

First Man, released in the US October 12, 2018, is the award winning movie showing the life of Neil Armstrong and the mission that made him become the first man to walk on the moon.  Ryan Gosling played Armstrong.  

First Man won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.  It was nominated for three more: Best Sound Editing, Best Production Design, and Best Sound Mixing.

It won a Golden Globe for Best Original Score.  

Gemini VIII launched 1966

Gemini VIII crew: David Scott, Neil Armstrong

Mission patch

Gemini VIII, launched March 16, 1966, was the sixth crewed spaceflight of the Gemni program.  Its crew consisted of Command Pilot Neil Armstrong and Pilot David Scott.

Gemini VIII docked succesfully with the Agena Target Vehicle, but soon after they began to roll.  Armstrong corrected the roll immediately but the spacecraft began to roll again.  They were spinning at a rate of nearly 1 revolution per second.  Armstrong managed to fire the re-entry thrusters in the opposite direction of the roll and brought them under control. 

Since they had used all of the fuel to correct the spin, they had to abort the mission after less than 11 hours.

Georgy Beregovoy, Soyuz 3 cosmonaut, born 1921

Cosmonaut Georgy Beregovoy, born April 15, 1921, went into space only once on Soyuz 3.  It was a one-man mission launched in October 1968 and he orbited Earth for almost four days. 

He had been scheduled to fly Voskhod 3 in 1966 but the mission never happened. 

In October 1969, Beregovoy and fellow cosmonaut Konstatin Feokistov visited Disneyland as guests of NASA, joined by Eugene Cernan, Neil Armstrong and others.

He passed away in June 1995 during heart surgery.

Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, born 1930

Neil Alden Armstrong, born August 5, 1930, was the first man on the moon in 1969.  He made his first space flight aboard Gemini VIII in March 1966 and his second (and last) flight on Apollo 11.  He uttered the famous line:

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Richard Nixon.

Armstrong passed away on August 25, 2012 after complications from coronary artery bypass surgery.  He was 82.

Below is a clip of the first moon landing with clips inserted of the lunar rover, which was not on Apollo 11.

Apollo 11, first manned mission to land on the moon, launched 1969

Apollo 11 crew (L-R): Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin

The first manned mission to land on the moon, Apollo 11, was launched July 6, 1969, with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.  The lunar lander Eagle touched down on the surface, July 20, when Armstrong broadcasted his famous line "The Eagle has landed!"  While he and Buzz Aldrin spent just under a day on the moon, Collins orbited alone in the Columbia, the lunar orbiter.

They returned to Earth July 24.

Happy birthday, Buzz Aldrin!

Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, born January 20, 1930, was the second man to walk on the moon, following Neil Armstrong July 21, 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission.  A Presbyterian, Aldrin held communion on the surface of the moon, but it wasn't broadcast since there was a suit against NASA brought on by an atheist against the reading of Genesis by Apollo 8.

Aldrin retired from NASA in 1970.

"The Eagle Has Landed" July 20, 1969

Apollo XI Crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin

I remember watching this on television at a friend's house while the events unfolded.  While Michael Collins circled the moon in the lunar orbiter, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men ever to walk on the moon.  Neil stepped onto the surface about 11am ET (they hadn't established lunar time yet) proclaiming in a speech that was not plagiarized, "That is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."  Twenty minutes later, Aldrin joined him on the moon.  Their total EVA was about 2 1/2 hours taking samples of the lunar surface and conducting experiments.  After almost 22 hours on the moon, Aldrin and Armstrong took off to rendezvous with Collins.  They splashed down July 24.

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon!

Today would have been Neil Armstrong's 84th birthday had he not died back in 2012.  He has always been one of my heroes, since landing on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission July 20, 1969.  I remember watching the moon landing on a black & white TV, just shy of my 7th birthday.  It was his accomplishment with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins that made me want to be an astronaut in the second grade up 'til now!