Armstrong Air & Space Museum photograph   Save
Ohio History Connection Properties File
Description: An 8" by 10" (20.32 by 25.4 cm) photograph depicts the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta as it appeared on "Open to the Public" day, July 20, 1972, before landscaping had been done. The building was named in honor of Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon. In the foreground the F5D Skylancer aircraft flown by Armstrong in the early 1960s can be seen. The museum is managed by the Ohio Historical Society. 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: Om3196_3806034_001
Subjects: Transportation; Science and Technology; Architecture; Flight; Aeronautics; Airplanes; Armstrong, Neil, 1930-2012 ; Galleries & museums
Places: Wapakoneta (Ohio); Auglaize County (Ohio)