Description: This color image shows the launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, at 9:32 a.m. (EDT), John F. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Flames and smoke billow from the Saturn V rocket as it lifts off the launchpad. Apollo 11 made history on July 20, 1969, when its lunar module landed on the moon. Mission commander and Ohio native Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon, spending 2.5 hours taking photographs and collecting samples. During their exploration the mission's third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained in the command module "Columbia" as it continued its orbit. The historic mission ended July 24, when the command module and crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06903
Subjects: Armstrong, Neil, 1930-2012; Ohio Economy--Science and Technology; Aldrin, Buzz; Apollo 11 (Spacecraft); Space flight; Project Apollo (U.S.); Space vehicles
Places: Cape Canaveral (Florida); United States
 

Description: This 5" by 7" (12.7 by 17.8 cm) photograph shows visitors enjoying the Gemini 8 capsule on display at the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta. It has been tilted on its base to allow visitors to inspect the interior of the spacecraft. The Gemini 8 spacecraft was flown into space by astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott in March 1966. The craft was launched by a Titan II rocket. During this mission, the astronauts performed the first rendezvous and docking in space. Near disaster brought the mission to an early end when a rocket thruster stuck open, causing the spacecraft to tumble out of control. Armstrong was able to regain control of the craft and make an emergency landing. The spacecraft measures 130" x 90" (3.3 x 2.28 m). Neil A. Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5, 1930. He received Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University. After serving as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952, Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1955. For the next 17 years he worked for NACA and its successor agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As a research pilot at NASA's Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, he was a project pilot on many pioneering high speed aircraft. Armstrong transferred to astronaut status in 1962 and was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission, which was launched on March 16, 1966. As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3197_3806040_001
Subjects: Transportation; Science and Technology; Arts and Entertainment; Flight; Aeronautics; Aeronautics; Armstrong, Neil, 1930-2012; Galleries & museums; Space vehicles
Places: Wapakoneta (Ohio); Auglaize County (Ohio)