Side A: Stephen and Viola Armstrong moved their family, including 13-year-old Neil and his younger siblings, June and Dean, to the house at 601 West Benton Street in 1944. Here, Neil explored his fascination with flying by reading aviation magazines and building model airplanes. Neil completed flying lessons at nearby Port Koneta airport and earned his pilot’s license on his sixteenth birthday, even before receiving a driver’s license. Neil graduated from Blume High School in 1947 and studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University on a Navy scholarship. The Korean conflict interrupted his studies, but he left the Navy as a decorated combat pilot, flying 78 missions. After graduating from Purdue in 1955, Neil worked at what would become the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Soon after he became a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California. (Continued on other side)
Side B: (Continued from other side) Armstrong was named to the second group of astronauts in 1962. He commanded the Gemini 8 mission in March 1966 and the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. The latter culminated when Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. Apollo 11’s crew emphasized that its accomplishment belonged to all humanity. For many, Apollo 11 was the culmination of the “Space Race,” the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to reach the moon first. Armstrong went on to receive a master’s degree from the University of Southern California, teach at the University of Cincinnati, and serve on corporate boards. He flew more than 200 models of aircraft from gliders and helicopters to jets and rockets. Armstrong died in 2012 at the age of 82. “That’s one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.”–Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969
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