Neil Armstrong

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neil_Armstrong_in_suit.jpg)

Neil Armstrong was amazingly talented and he is my hero. He was a pilot, an astronaut and was a teacher later on. Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930. He was the first one to step on the moon. Neil Armstrong was really brave to do that. Now many astronauts go into space and twelve of them have walked on the moon.

Neil Armstrong never gave up. He never gave up when he wanted to be the first one to walk on the moon. He never lost his cool. That means he never got stressed out. He also never gave up when he wanted to fly. He also never gave up when he was an astronaut.

Although Neil Armstrong lived through hard times with his family, he persisted with his dreams of flying. Neil had 2 children, Eric and Karen. Karen’s nickname was Muffie. Muffie died of cancer at 2 years old. Neil kept the sadness to himself. A few months after Muffie died, he decided to apply to be an astronaut and try to accomplish one of his dreams.

Everything Neil Armstrong chose to do he did to the best of his abilities. He worked hard on his own to reach success for himself. As a boy, Neil was a Boy Scout and reached the highest level to become an Eagle Scout. He loved airplanes and wanted to take lessons to learn how to fly a plane. He earned money by mowing lawns and baking donuts to pay for lessons. At 15 years old, he got his pilot license. At 17, Neil agreed to work for the Navy for three years after he finished 2 years of college. They gave him a scholarship to go to Purdue University. He studied aeronautic engineering at Purdue.

Neil Armstrong was born in Ohio. His grandparents owned a farmhouse. Then he went to a college in Indiana. After he got married he moved to Houston, Texas. He said it would be better for him, because his neighbors were astronauts too. They would often have barbecues with their neighbors.

Neil was a pilot for a long time. Neil was in his first plane ride when he was only 6 years old. But as he got older, he got more into astronauts and he wanted to step on the moon. That was one of his dreams. When he got up into space his rocket named the Eagle was going down hard on the moon. They had to do something so they tried and it worked. Their rocket landed and they got out of the Eagle safe. Neil and Buzz, the other astronaut, were walking on the moon. Neil wanted to say something and it was “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.

Neil Armstrong also had to train with other astronauts. He had to go live in a rain forest for a few days with only a tent and a knife. They wanted to test their surviving skills. It was hard for Neil but he got used to it. They also attached a little camera to his chest to watch and see what Neil was doing. That was a smart decision.

Neil was also interested in the Sputnik 1. That came out in October 4, 1957. The Sputnik was the size of a beach ball and weighed less than two hundred pounds. The Sputnik also traveled around the Earth in a little less than a hundred minutes. That’s amazing. In the late 1950s the United States space program began.

Neil was really amazing because he was so brave to step foot on the moon. That is one of the main reasons he is my hero.