Career[change | change source]
Prior to being an astronaut, Armstrong was called to Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida in 1949 before he could complete his degree. There he earned his pilots wings at 20 years of age, making him the youngest flyer in his squadron. While studying for his aeronautical engineering degree, the Korean War broke out in 1950, in which he flew 78 combat missions. His plane was shot down once and he was also awarded 3 Air Medals. Later, he became a skilful test pilot, flying right to the atmosphere’s edge, 207,500 feet (63,200 m) at 4,000 miles per hour (6,400 km/h), in the experimental rocket powered aircraft the X-15. Armstrong went on his first mission into space on the 16th of March 1966, in the spacecraft Gemini 8, as the command pilot. He docked the Gemini 8 successfully with an Agena target craft that was in orbit already. Although the docking was smooth enough, while the spacecrafts orbited together, they started to roll and pitch. Armstrong then managed to undock the Gemini, and regained control of the spacecraft by using the retro rockets. However, this resulted in the astronauts having to make an emergency landing into the Pacific Ocean.