A small step for man….

Nieuws | de redactie

11 november 2010 | Op ‘Meet the Future’ komen een reeks levende legendes de Nederlandse kennissector opporren en inspireren. Hoe bijzonder Steve Wozniak, Kishore Mahbubani, Alexander Rinnooy Kan of Jeroen van der Veer echter zijn, ook zij weten dat zij verbleken bij die ene andere spreker. Als u zich nu snel via ScienceGuide aanmeldt kunt u zelf kennis maken en in discussie met de eerste man op de Maan: Neil Armstrong.

‘The Eagle has Landed’. Dat is misschien wel het geheime mottovan de bèta-techniek manifestatie, op 18 november in Den Haag. MetArmstrong, de commandant van de historische Apollo 11 missie uit1969, maakt deze bijeenkomst zelf een beetje geschiedenis. Hij zaleen lezing houden en vervolgens ook een Q&A sessie metbelangstellenden. En hier ziet u hem dat eerste stapje zetten en hoort uNeil Armstrong zijn historische woorden spreken.

Van Ohio naar de Maan

Neil Armstrong is iemand uit het iconische Heartland of America: Wapakoneta inde staat Ohio. Hij werd daar geboren op 5 augustus 1930. De NASAgeeft de volgende uitvoerige biografie van de First Man on theMoon: 

‘As a research pilot at NASA’s Flight Research Center, Edwards,Calif., he was a project pilot on many pioneering high speedaircraft, including the well known, 4000-mph X-15. He has flownover 200 different models of aircraft, including jets, rockets,helicopters and gliders.

Armstrong transferred to astronaut status in 1962. He was assignedas command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. Gemini 8 was launched onMarch 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successfuldocking of two vehicles in space. As spacecraft commander forApollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, Armstrong gainedthe distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moonand first to step on its surface.

Veel eerbewijzen

Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy AssociateAdministrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.In this position, he was responsible for the coordination andmanagement of overall NASA research and technology work related toaeronautics.

He was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University ofCincinnati between 1971-1979. During the years 1982-1992, Armstrongwas chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc.,Charlottesville, Va. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree inAeronautical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master ofScience in Aerospace Engineering from the University of SouthernCalifornia. He holds honorary doctorates from a number ofuniversities.

Armstrong is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilotsand the Royal Aeronautical Society; Honorary Fellow of the AmericanInstitute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the InternationalAstronautics Federation. He is a member of the National Academy ofEngineering and the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. He served asa member of the National Commission on Space (1985-1986), asVice-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space ShuttleChallenger Accident (1986), and as Chairman of the PresidentialAdvisory Committee for the Peace Corps (1971-1973).’

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