Who Was Neil Armstrong?

Apollo 11 is one of the missions in the Apollo Program—the third NASA program, after Project Mercury and Project Gemini—with the goal of getting human beings onto the surface of the moon. The Apollo 11 mission was headed by Armstrong. His crew consisted of two other astronauts, “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins. These three men piloted a multi-part craft into space and, for the first time in human history, set foot on the lunar surface—an achievement that provides the narrative climax of Edwards’s book and emphasizes its thematic focus on The Importance of Perseverance and Dedication in Achieving One’s Goals. Armstrong was the first to step out of the spacecraft, uttering the famous words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (87). The Apollo Program ended in 1972, after several more moon landings.

Columbia was the command module of the three-part craft used for the Apollo 11 mission. It was carried at the top of the spacecraft, above the Lunar Module and the three-stage engine. Inside Columbia, the three astronauts worked, ate, and slept during their days-long mission. It is also where Collins stayed, continuously orbiting the moon, while Aldrin and Armstrong took the lunar module to the surface of the moon.

The lunar module—one of three parts of the craft used for the Apollo 11 mission—was nicknamed the “Eagle.” The Eagle was housed inside a section of the craft called the Lunar Module Adapter, carried near the top, just below the craft’s command module. When Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins reached the moon’s orbit, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the Eagle and piloted it to the moon’s surface while Collins remained in the command module, orbiting the moon. The lunar module’s nickname cemented its place in history when it first touched down on the surface of the moon and Armstrong transmitted the message to NASA “The Eagle has landed!” (86).