Neil Armstrong and Aldrin Edwin made the dream of all people whose eyes are turned to the stars come true. Gagarin's flight fulfilled Tsiolkovsky's prediction that humanity should not remain forever in its cradle. Now humanity, like a space child, has taken the first step.
Through thorns into space
The biographies of Nylon Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin intertwine in such a way that sometimes it may seem as if they were originally assigned a joint mission assigned from above.
They were born in 1930. Almost at the same time they graduated from high school. One dropped out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The other did not enter it, although they persistently tried to force him to become a student of a prestigious institution. Neil has 78 sorties, Edwin flew 66 during the Korean War. Both also participated in the first space flights of the Gemini project.
In 1966, Aldrin Edwin commanded the backup crew of the Gemini 9 and piloted the Gemini 12 the same year. A little earlier, in March, while in command of Gemini 8, Neil Armstrong docked two ships in Earth orbit for the first time.
First step
In January 1969 Aldrin Edwin becomes the pilot of the Apollo 11 descent module. The orbital segment was flown by Michael Collins and crewed by Neil Armstrong. Two paths converged into one.
The finest hour came on July 20, 1969. The whole world heard the phrase:
It's a small step for one person, but a giant step for all mankind.
The quote is from Armstrong. It is said that the phrase was born from childhood impressions of one game in which you had to take big and small steps.
After 6.5 hours after landing, which took to put on spacesuits and check life support systems, the first earthlings descended the ladder to the surface covered with a thick layer of black dust.
The second one that could have been the first
Aldrin Edwin came down twenty minutes after Armstrong. He already held the record for the number of spacewalks and the length of stay in it. His achievements were only surpassed during the Apollo 15 flight.
When the lunar mission was still being prepared, the opinion circulated among the initiates that the glory of the pioneer would go to him. But it happened differently. Coincidentally or not, Armstrong became the cosmic symbol of humanity. There is no information about any intrigues. It's just that the one who was sitting closer to the exit should have left first.
To be at the right time in the right place is a fate whose finger is directed tochosen one. Astronaut Edwin Aldrin became the second. But his merits were marked by well-deserved fame and numerous awards. Neither his name nor his role will ever be forgotten.
On the moon as on the moon
The astronaut program included planting the US flag, collecting soil, installing various instruments such as a seismograph, a laser reflector, etc. The message from humanity, engraved on the plate, ended with the words: "We come in peace."
Because Edwin Aldrin was a deeply religious believer in the Presbyterian Church, his first act on the moon was to celebrate the sacrament. Of course, permission from Houston was required, and it was granted. Armstrong's attitude towards religion was different, and he refused to take the sacrament.
Medals with images of those who died on the path of humanity into space were left on the lunar surface. There are also plates with flags of 136 states of the world. 21 kilograms of soil were collected. All actions were filmed on a specially designed camera. After 2.5 hours, the mission was completed and the astronauts returned to the lunar module.
With them they brought a lot of dust left on their suits and, when the space armor was removed, they smelled a sharp smell, similar to the smell of gunpowder. The smell was not unpleasant, just unusual.
When all the necessary procedures were completed, the starting engine was turned on. The time from landing to takeoff took 22 hours.
Apollo 11 splashed down 8 days after launchPacific Ocean, and the astronauts were taken aboard the Hornet aircraft carrier. A few minutes later they were placed in a quarantine van for 18 days. The lunar mission has been completed.
What kind of guy was he?
The flight, which became a milestone on the path of mankind to the stars, was the last for both astronauts. Career at NASA did not last long. In 1971, almost simultaneously, Armstrong and Aldrin left the organization.
Life went on and everyone participated in many more projects. Edwin wrote books, starred in films. In one of them, he played himself. The year 2012 came, when fate first divorced them. Neil Armstrong has died.
To better understand what kind of person he was, we must remember two facts of his biography. He once showed his wit by explaining to reporters why America's first astronaut was a man and not an animal.
"At first they wanted to send a monkey, but NASA received a lot of letters in defense of animal rights, and not a single letter came in defense of Shepard. So he flew."
The second happened when some idiot first asked him to swear on the bible that he had actually been on the moon. And when Edwin refused to do so, he called him a liar and a swindler. The answer was a blow to the accuser's jaw.
Probably, he was destined to visit the Earth's satellite. After all, Moon, the maiden name of his mother, in translation means nothing more than the Moon.
