Neil Armstrong
Who was Neil Armstrong? Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio. In 1936, he had his first ride in an airplane. Neil Armstrong went to Purdue University in 1947. Not only did Neil Armstrong go into outer space, he also flew warplanes off the USS Essex during the Korean War. He was a naval aviator from 1949-1952. Neil married Janet Shearon and had three children; Eric, Karen, and Mark. Karen, his daughter, died of cancer when she was only a few months old. Most people do not even realize Neil Armstrong had a daughter because he never talked about it.
The space race had begun in 1960 with the USSR (Russia) and the United States. The goal was to see you could have more power over outer space. USSR
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He would be considered a servant leader because he was concerned about Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, the other two astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 mission. Neil was concerned about the people back at NASA and wanted to make sure that everything was going as planned during the mission. As the commander for the mission, he listened to the people at NASA and to Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. There were some complications during the mission like trying to land on the Moon.
Their original landing spot was not manageable for them to land at, so they had to reroute and find a new landing spot. They also had to make sure that they would be able to get back home once they reached the Moon. Neil Armstrong was aware of the situation and the end goal of the mission, be the first person to walk on the Moon. He cared about Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. He was very conceptual of seeing the end goal and wanting to accomplish it. Neil showed stewardship by taking responsibility when becoming commander for the Apollo 11
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He thought he was just doing his regular job of being an astronaut. He knew he was serving his country by becoming the first person to walk on the Moon as well as flying the warplanes during the Korean War. Neil was self-disciplined when he listened to the people back at NASA and following their instructions given to him. He was genuine and real during the Apollo 11 mission and was seen as a regular person accomplishing something extraordinary.
As an education major, I chose Neil Armstrong as my famous Historian in Social Studies Methods. I did not know that much about Neil Armstrong before I began my Leadership project and the Social Studies Methods lesson plans. I have written five full lesson plans about Neil Armstrong and have read “Who Was Neil Armstrong?” By: Roberta Edwards. My mom jokes with me that I am the walking spokesperson for Neil Armstrong and can tell you all about him. I have always been fascinated with outer space growing up and my favorite movie is October
...ause it was the mission that NASA was able to put the first man up onto the moon. Neil Armstrong was the pilot of the Apollo 11 flight. There was a special shuttle that was attached to the spaceship; it was called the Eagle. The Eagle was designed to transport some crew members down to the moon. Armstrong was responsible for driving and landing the shuttle safely down to the moon. While on his way down to the moon, Armstrong realized that he was starting to run out of fuel. Thankfully, Armstrong did have enough to land on the moon and make it back up to the spaceship. When the Eagle was leaving the spaceship for the first time up in space, it wasn't completely depressurized so there was something like a gas bubble come from the shuttle as it was on its way to the moon. The gas bubble moved the shuttle off course and the Eagle actually landed four miles off course.
Leadership is centred on balancing the followers and the situation. There were different displays of leadership in this case. It is also important to note that leaders do not have to use force but influence. Making decision, managing change and dealing with conflict was demonstrated by the leader of the crew Apollo 13 who was Jim Lovell. There were other leader roles such as Gene the head of the ground crew. Also Marilyn Lovell played a part of a leadership in her own side as she had more experience than any of the other wives. This was her fourth launch so she knew what was expected and Mary Fred wife willingly followed her lead.
The amazing performances by the crew and ground support was what kept the crew alive. The crew and ground Apollo 13 had a huge impact on space exploration. Many people disagree with this because if they had stopped or changed the schedule of Apollo 13 they may not have failed their mission. Even though they failed at their goals the overall result was success. Apollo 13 was an amazing achievement for NASA even though they did not achieve their goals of landing on the Fra Mauro area of the moon. They landed in the pacific ocean on April 17th 1970. The name of their recovery ship was the USS Iwo Jima. The Fra Mauro site was reassigned for Apollo
These rivalries would become clear when two countries competed in the space race, a competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union concerning achievements in the field of space exploration. The Soviet’s took the early lead as they put the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space. The launch of Sputnik 1 established a sense of fear in the American public, resulting in the creation of NASA in the late 1950’s. This opened the door for space exploration today and for future generations. After World War II, the Cold War created tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States leading to extreme national pride and competition, culminating in the space race which began with the launch of Sputnik 1.
On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong planted the first human footprints in the lunar soil. The United States had accomplished their goal in sending men to the moon. They managed to not only send them 238,857 mi. (384,403 km) into space to our neighbor celestial body, but also send them back with a successful flight to our mother earth. This seems like a difficult task for a country that was behind Russia in space exploration at the time.
Little did anyone know or expect this would be the most rewarding mission since 1961. Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins left from the Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida on July 16,1969. Michael Collins was the command module pilot, Neil Armstrong was the mission commander, and Buzz Aldrin was the lunar module pilot. The Apollo 11 crew traveled 240,000 miles in just 72 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19,1696. Collins detached for the lunar module The mission was already ahead of schedule with Americans waiting to see what was going to happen next for their country. At 10:39 p.m., Armstrong, being televised, opened the hatch of the lunar module, and three minutes later Armstrong made history by putting his left foot of the moon’s powdery surface. When Armstrong stepped down from the last step from the spacecraft, all of America jumped for excitement and joy. Aldrin soon joined Armstrong 19 minutes later, and together they took photographs, then planted the United States flag. President Nixon was so very blessed and honored that he was able to witness America make history on July 24, 1969 along with all of the other Americans. Returning back to Earth
After World War II both the United States and the Soviet Union realized how important rocket research would be to the military. So they each hired the top rocket scientists from Germany to help with their research. After they hired them both sides were making a lot of progress. The Space Race began in 1955 when the Americans announced that they would start launching satellites into orbit. The Soviets took the US announcement as a challenge and established a group whose goal was to beat the US in putting a satellite into orbit. Even though the United States started the competition the Soviets still won because they launched the first successful satellite into orbit, put a dog into outer space and also put the first man into outer space. Some might say that the United States won because they put the first man on the moon, which was a huge feat made by the Americans. So for winning many missions against the U.S. the Soviets won the Space Race.
The goal of Apollo 11 was stated very simply. Perform manned lunar landing and return mission safely. Simply stated, but almost impossible to achieve, it was the mission NASA had been preparing for almost a decade, and nobody was trying to pretend this was just another launch.
On April 10th James "Jim" Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise embarked on one of the most historic missions in NASA history. Three days later on April 13th, while performing a routine stir on the O2 tanks, the Apollo 13 mission suffered a terrible electrical malfunction and was forced to make an emergency return mission. The movie has forever contributed two phrases to our everyday cultural vocabulary, "Houston we have a problem", communicated by Jim Lovell, and "Failure is not an option", voiced by Gene Kranz.
Space travel was born from the flames of war – or in this case, the refrigerators of war. The Soviet Union and the United States were ready to show up each other in the fields of science and engineering, and with the recent advent of rocketry, it was evident that space was the next goal. Russia held the first few victories: including the first man-made satellite and the first man in space. Following these defeats, America picked itself up, and defeated the Russians on the race to the moon.
Before the splashdown of Apollo 11, Aldrin said, "We feel this stands as a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown." (space.about.com) The mission was accomplished and Kennedy’s dream was fulfilled. America was the first to send men to the moon and return them safely to the earth. (space.about.com)
Three specific characteristics that Eugene Kranz possessed in order to get this mission completed were reassuring the crew and members in the Houston Controls Center, devising a plan that was thorough and specific, and self-discipline in order to ensure that the correct steps were taken and that no guessing was involved (to avoid error). Also, Eugene Kranz had a lot of pessimism on his back to begin with when he was first made aware of the problem with the Apollo 13. Many people didn't think that there was a surviving chance for the astronauts, and in the end, the Houston Control Center, under the command of Eugene Kranz, was able to save the lives of three lucky, yet brave, men.
Neil Armstrong looked at it not only as a great triumph for America, but also for the human race when he said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" on his first step on the moon (Dunbar). On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about what he called "urgent national needs" at a stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas (“NASA Moon Landing”). In that speech, he challenged America to "commit itself to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the decade"(Schlager and Lauer). This became known as Kennedy's challenge and the idea was to outperform the Soviets. While the Soviets were off to a better start with the launch of Sputnik I, we soon rose to the challenge and accomplished our goal only eight years later on June 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely landed on the moon. With the great accomplishments of Apollo 11, America had bettered the Soviets and established superiority in space.
We can say he was a leader according to the leadership framework: Be, Know, Do:
Neil Armstrong was the first person to ever land on the moon. Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, he graduated from college in 1955 and joined the NASA team. In 1962, he became the first civilian to enter into an astronaut training program. In 1969, Armstrong headed the Apollo 11 mission, becoing the first human being to set foot on the moon. Other astronauts the accompanied Armstrong on this mission were Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. In 1971, Armstrong became a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati.