Neil Armstrong: The First Man on the Moon

The First Man on the Moon
By Gina Shaw
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Apollo 11 Moon Mission....................................................................... 1
Chapter Two
The Early Years......................................................................................... 3
Chapter Three
The Teen Years.......................................................................................... 4
Chapter Four
Neil Armstrong’s Education........................................................... 5
Chapter Five
The Korean War........................................................................................ 6
Chapter Six
After the War.............................................................................................. 7
Chapter Seven
Astronaut Armstrong.......................................................................... 8
Glossary.......................................................................................................... 11
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Chapter One
Apollo 11 Moon Mission
Do you know whose footprint this is? Do you
know where it can be found?
Give up? This is Neil Armstrong’s footprint and it
is on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil
Armstrong became the first man ever to step
foot on the moon.
The footprint of the first man
on the moon
Apollo 11 command
module Columbia
He was the commander of the
Apollo 11 space mission of 1969.
Armstrong flew to the moon with
astronauts Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
and Michael Collins. Collins
circled the moon in the command
module Columbia. Armstrong and
Aldrin landed on the moon in the
lunar module Eagle.
Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 1
Grade: 3
As Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, he said these words: “That’s one small
step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This historic moon landing made
headlines all around the world.
A U.S. postage stamp honors
the first man on the moon. 
The moon landing made headlines
around the world. 
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 2
Grade: 3
Chapter Two
The Early Years
Neil Armstrong was born on his grandparents’
farm in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930.
He was the oldest of three children. His father
worked for the Ohio government and moved his
family around the state for most of Neil’s young
life. In 1944, when Neil was 14 years old, the
family settled back in Wapakoneta.
Neil Armstrong at three years
of age
Neil became interested in airplanes at a
very young age. When he was two
years old, his father took him to the
National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio.
Then, at six years old, Neil flew in an
airplane for the first time! After that,
Neil read every book he could find on
airplanes and flying.
Neil Armstrong’s childhood home in
Wapakoneta, Ohio
Neil was a very curious child. He liked to ask lots of questions and learn new things
all the time. He started reading street signs when he was three years old. Soon
after, he began to read books. He loved having books all around him.
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 3
Grade: 3
Chapter Three
The Teen Years
Neil wanted to learn to fly. He started taking flying lessons when he was 15
years old. These lessons were expensive and Neil had to pay for them
himself. He worked at different jobs around the airport to make the money
he needed.
On his sixteenth birthday, Neil was so happy. He got his pilot’s license. He
got it before his automobile driver’s license and before he graduated from
high school!
Not only did Neil fly airplanes, he built his own model planes from scratch,
not from kits. He wanted to know how each part of a plane worked. He even
made a small wind tunnel in the basement of his parents’ home. He forced air
through it at controlled speeds. He studied the effects of the air flow.
Soon Neil became interested in space. He was thrilled when he was able to
look through a very large telescope and see the stars, the moon, and
the planets.
One of the airplanes that
Neil Armstrong built on
his own
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 4
Grade: 3
Chapter Four
Neil Armstrong’s Education
Purdue University
In 1947, Neil entered Purdue University in Indiana. It was one of the best
engineering schools in the United States. He was able to go there on a U.S. Navy
scholarship. The Navy paid for Neil’s college education. He studied math, science,
and aviation.
Two years later, he was called to active duty by the navy. He went to Pensacola
Naval Air Station in Florida. His navy flight training lasted for 18 months. When he
turned 20 years old, he got his jet fighter pilot wings. He was the youngest jet pilot
in his squadron. Being a fighter pilot was dangerous, but Neil was excited because
now he would fly jets.
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 5
Grade: 3
Chapter Five
The Korean War
In 1950, the Korean War broke out. This was a war between North and South Korea
which lasted from 1950 to 1953. China fought on North Korea’s side. The United
States fought to help South Korea. Neil Armstrong was sent to fight in this war as a
U.S. Navy jet fighter pilot.
China
North Korea
• Chong Ju
Sea of
Japan
• Sinang Ju
• Pyongyang
Korea
• Uijeongbu
Yellow
Sea
Inchon • • Seoul
• Suwon
South Korea
• Taejon
• Daegu
• Busan
Map of North Korea and South Korea
Neil flew 78 combat missions in Korea. His plane was shot down once. He ejected
from it, and he survived. Neil was given three medals because he was so brave.
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 6
Grade: 3
Chapter Six
After the War
Neil left Korea in 1952. He returned to Purdue
University to finish college. He graduated in 1955.
After college, Neil worked at the Lewis Flight
Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio, as a
research pilot. Then he went to Edwards Air Force
Base in California. He became a skilled test pilot.
Test pilot Neil Armstrong
stands next to the X-15 plane
after a research flight.
Neil was one of the first three pilots to fly the
X-15 plane. He made seven flights in it. The X-15
set many speed and altitude records in the early
1960s. It reached the edge of space. It was a
model for future spacecraft.
An X-15 rocket-engine plane
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 7
Grade: 3
Chapter Seven
Astronaut Armstrong
In 1962, Neil Armstrong became an astronaut. Four
years later, Neil made his first trip into space
aboard the Gemini 8 spacecraft. He stayed in orbit
around the Earth for less than 10 hours. When
Neil’s spacecraft spun out of control, Neil calmly
solved the problem. He was able to bring the
Gemini 8 safely back to Earth.
In January 1969, Neil was chosen to lead the
This Titan booster launched
the Gemini 8 spacecraft on
March 16, 1966, from Cape
Kennedy, Florida.
Apollo 11 moon mission along with Buzz Aldrin and
Michael Collins. During the months that followed,
the three men studied moon maps, weather, and
rocks. They had to learn how to
work in their space suits. They had
to learn how to control the
spaceship. The purpose of this
Apollo mission was to perform the
first manned landing on the moon
and return safely to Earth.
Splashdown of the Gemini 8 mission in the
Pacific Ocean in 1966
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 8
Grade: 3
On July 16, 1969, the three astronauts took
off in a Saturn V rocket from the Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. It took this rocket
four days to reach the moon. It didn’t
actually land on the moon, though.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin boarded the
Eagle. The Eagle was the lunar module that
Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael
Collins, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
would land them on the moon. It was one of
the spaceships carried on the Saturn V.
As the Eagle neared the moon, Neil looked out of the
window. He saw lots of large rocks covering the
landing site. He steered the Eagle away from the
rocks and landed safely on the moon.
The lunar module, the Eagle
Title: Neil Armstrong
The launch of the
Saturn V rocket
Page: 9
Grade: 3
“The Eagle has landed!” Neil said to mission control. Then Neil Armstrong climbed
down the steps of the Eagle. He put his left foot on the moon. People everywhere
were able to watch on TV as he took the first step on the moon!
 Official Apollo 11 Emblem
The Eagle on the moon
The surface of the moon
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 10
Grade: 3
Glossary
active duty: called to war
altitude: the height of something above the ground
aviation: the science of building and flying aircraft
commander: a person who has control over a group of people in the armed forces
command module: the part of the spacecraft that orbited the moon on the
Apollo 11 space mission
curious: eager to find out
ejected: hurled out of the cockpit by a special seat
lunar module: the part of the spacecraft that landed on the moon during the
Apollo 11 space mission
scholarship: a grant that pays for you to go to college
squadron: a group of fighter planes or jets
Computer Earth/Shutterstock Images LLC, NASA; Page 2: (t) NASA; (m) Smithsonian Institution; NASA; Page 3: (t) US Post Office; (l) The Washington Post; Page 3:
(t) Ohio Historical Society; (l) Ohio Historical Society; Page 4: Purdue University; Ohio Historical Society; Page 6: (t) NASA; (b) NASA; Page 8: (t) NASA; (b) NASA;
Page 9: (t) TBD; (l) NASA; (r) NASA; Page 10: (t) NASA; (m) NASA; moonsurface TBD
Title: Neil Armstrong
Page: 11
Grade: 3