Gemini 6
Gemini 7
Gemini 8
liftoff
reentry
roll emergency
second-guessing of Neil’s performance
Gemini 9
Gemini 10
Gemini 11
Gemini 12
Gemini Nine (astronauts)
credentials of
Gemini Project
Gemini simulator
Gemini spacecraft
Gibson, Edward
Gibson, Robert “Hoot”
Gilruth, Robert
Glenn, Annie
Glenn, John
boarding spacecraft
character of
chosen for Redstone
escorts JFK
at Grissom’s burial in Arlington
grounded by JFK
hero to Neil
in Houston
jogging
jungle survival training
Mercury-Atlas flight around Earth (1962)
on Neil’s personality
one of the Mercury Seven
parades for
pilot in Korean War
returns to space at 77 years of age
Senate career
on the space race
support for Neil’s pilotry
support for Slayton
gliders
God
Goddard, Esther
Gold, Herb
Goldin, Dan
Gorbachev, Mikhail
Gordon, Dick
Gordon, Henry
Graveline, Duane
“Green Six” target in Korean War
Grissom, Gus
burial at Arlington
chosen for Redstone
death in launchpad fire
on Gemini 3
on Gemini 4
in Houston
memorial to, on the moon
Mercury flight
one of the Mercury Seven
in simulator
supports Slayton
Grumman Aircraft
guidance office (GUIDO)
guidance systems
Gulfstream aircraft
Haise, Fred
Haney, Paul
Harbaugh, Greg
Harrington, Bob
Harris, Hugh
Harrison, Ed
Hauck, Rick
Hawaii Rescue 1 and 2 (C-130s)
Hawaiian Islands, view from space
heat shield
Hilmers, Dave
Hodge, John
Hope, Bob
Hornet, USS
Houston, Texas
Hoyle, Fred
Hubble Constant
Hubble Space Telescope
humans, first appearance on Earth
Huntsville, Alabama
inboard cutoff
International Geophysical Year (IGY)
International Space Station
“Jingle Bells” broadcast
John Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Johnson, Lyndon
Johnsville, Pennsylvania
jumpsuit
jungle survival training
Jupiter-C/Juno-I rocket
Kamanin, Lev
Kauai, Hawaii, tracking station
Kazakhstan
KC-135 (“Vomit Comet”)
Kennedy, Jacqueline
Kennedy, John F.
challenge to go to moon and return (1961)
interest in space
meets John Glenn on landing
protected from possible blame in re Slayton
visits Cape Canaveral
watching a launch
Kerwin, Joseph
King, Jack
Kitchell, Jim
Knight, Carol
Komarov, Valentina
Komarov, Vladimir
memorial to, on the moon
Korean War (1950)
Korolev, Sergei
Kraft, Chris
Kranz, Gene
Lagrange points
Laika (Russian dog in space)
Landwirth, Henri
Las Vegas odds on Apollo flights
Launch Control, Cape Canaveral
Lemaître, Georges
Leonov, Alexei
Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, Cleveland, Ohio
Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft
life, Neil’s respect for
Life magazine
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow
Lindsey, Steve
Los Angeles, California
Lounge, Mike
Lovell, James
on Apollo 8
and Apollo 11
on Apollo 13
celebrity status
character of
on Gemini 7
and Gemini 8
on Gemini 12
Gemini missions
and launchpad fire investigation
LLTV training
one of Gemini Nine
phone call to Apollo 11 astronauts
preaches need to return to space
training
understands Neil’s reluctance to be in the spotlight
at White House
Low, George
Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV)
crash of
ejection from
Neil’s training on
lunar module (LM)
computers on
construction of
order of entering and exiting
testing of
lunar module simulator
Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI)
lunar receiving laboratory (LRL)
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Luscombe plane
Magellanic Cloud
Makarov, Oleg
Man-in-Space-Soonest (MISS) group
Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas
Mars, exploration of
Martians on Earth
mascons on the moon
Mason destroyer
Max-Q
McAuliffe, Christa
McCandless, Bruce
McDivitt, James
McKay, Jack
meals in space
Mercury-Atlas flights
Mercury Control
Mercury Project
success of
Mercury Seven (astronauts)
recruiting for
Michel, Curt
MIG planes
Milky Way
Mir
Mission Control, Houston
broadcasts to the public
casual conversations with astronauts
monitoring of flight data
operational communications with astronauts
training at
views of activity at
Mitchell, Edgar
Mojave Desert, California
moon, the
color of
composition of
contingency sample from
craters on
a dead world
dust on
first astronaut to land on
flight around (circumlunar)
formation of, in early solar system
gravity of
JFK’s challenge to go to and return (1961)
no human visits since December 17, 1972
practice in landing on
return to, advocated by Neil
rock samples from
science experiments on
smell of (wet ashes and gunpowder)
view of, from deep space
view of, from earth orbit
view of, from lunar orbit
view of, on the surface
water on, possibly
moon landing conspiracy theories
moonwalks
Moore, John
Morse, Ralph
Morton Thiokol
Mount Fuji, Japan
Mount Marilyn, on the moon
Muffie’s Crater, on the moo
n
MythBusters show
N-1 rocket
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
and the Challenger accident
confidence of, in the shuttle
criticisms of
enters the space race
forerunner of (NACA)
invitations to view a launch
and launchpad fire
maturing of, in the 1990s
Neil given title as Administrator for Aeronautics
public affairs office
recruiting astronauts
schedule for space exploration
National Space Council
Naval School of Pre-Flight, Pensacola, Florida
navigational error
NBC Nightly News
NBCNews.com
nebulae
Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center
Nellis Air Force Base
Nelson, George “Pinky”
New York City, ticker-tape parades
Nixon, Pat
Nixon, Richard
instructions re astronauts
meets and greets returning Apollo 11 astronauts
talks to Eagle on the moon
Noa, Danny
Noa recovery ship
“non-striking-a-claim” treaty
North American Aviation
nuclear warheads, rocket delivery of
O-rings
Obama, Barack
O’Malley, Anne
O’Malley, Thomas J.
Orion spacecraft
oxygen, and Apollo 1 fire
P-51 Mustang
Page, George
Paine, Thomas
Panama Canal Zone
parachutes
Passive Thermal Control (PTC)
photoreconnaissance
Pings and Ags guidance systems
Piper Tri-Pacer
Pius XII, pope
planets, formation of
plasma propulsion
Pohang Airport, Korea
Precourt, Charlie
Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
Purdue University
quarantine
pre-launch
after return from moon
R4D research plane
R-7 rocket
radiation, protection from
“raptures of the deep”
Rathmann, Jim
Reagan, Maureen
Reagan, Ronald
Recovery I helicopter
Redford, Robert
Redstone rocket
manned flight
reentry
disaster of Columbia on
Reentry Control System (RCS)
rendezvous in space, first
research papers
retro-rockets
Riley, Jack
Rivard, John
rocketry, U.S. vs. Soviet
Rockwell
Rogers, William P.
Rose Knot Victor tracking ship
Russia
spaceflight program
See also Soviet Union
S4B rocket stage
satellites
first (Sputnik, 1957)
first American (Explorer)
Saturn 1B rocket
launching
Saturn V rocket
flight
ignition
launch
Schirra, Wally
Schmitt, Harrison
Schweickart, Russell L.
Scobee, Dick
Scott, Dave
Sea of Tranquility, on the moon
See, Elliot
See, Marilyn
Shearon, Janet
(1956) marriage to Neil
(1957) birth of first child
(1959) birth of second child
(1963) birth of third child
at Apollo 1 disaster
at Apollo 11 launch
and death of Karen Anne
divorces Neil
friendship with Gene Cernan
home life
interviews
listening to the Gemini 8 emergency
meets returning Neil
Neil meets
Neil proposes to
Shepard, Alan
first American in space
messages to astronauts
Sigma 7 spacecraft
Sinatra, Frank
Skylab
Slayton, Deke
accompanies Apollo 11 crew to launch
assignments of astronauts
and astronauts’ welfare
chosen to be chief astronaut by fellow astronauts
grounded because of heart irregularity
messages to astronauts
at Mission Control
monitoring flights
and Neil’s future
one of the Mercury Seven
pin of, left on the moon
private conversation of
recruiting of astronauts
and Redstone
schedule of space exploration of
in space flight
sleeping on a spacecraft
Smith, Mike
Society of Experimental Test Pilots
solar corona from behind the moon
solar panels
solid boosters
Soviet Union
spaceflight program
in World War II
Soyuz 1
Soyuz spacecraft
space
exploration of
justification for humans in
live television from
“non-striking-a-claim” treaty (1967)
survival of humans in
view of Earth from
view of stars, from above the atmosphere
view of stars, from deep space
“Space in the 20Teens” news show
Space Launch System (SLS)
space pilots, NASA’s criteria for
space shuttle
Dyna-Soar forerunner of
end of program
space stations
space suits and gear
space travel
considered safe
doomsayers about
spacecraft
commercial
life aboard one (eating, sleeping)
thermal control of
spacewalks. See also Extra Vehicular Activity
SPS rocket
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 2
SS-6 booster
Stafford, Tom
stage separation
Starlite Inn, Cocoa Beach
stars
explosion of, making new star material
view of, from deep space
Stewart, Jimmy
sun, the, formation of
T-38 jet
crashes
Tananarive tracking station, Madagascar
telescopes, invention of
Thomas, Gene
Thompson, Floyd L
Thor-Agena surveillance rocket
the 3s (3 seconds days)
thrusters
Timber Cove neighborhood, Houston, Texas
Titan II rocket
Titov, Gherman
Tofield, Geoff
tracking ships
Trans Earth Insertion (TEI)
Trans Lunar Insertion (TLI)
“the trench”
True, Virgil
Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
Unidentified Flying Object (UFO), sighted
United States
loss of capability to go to space
spaceflight program
universe, the
age of
coming into existence of
University of Cincinnati
Vanguard rocket
destruction on launch of
Viking RTV-N-12A sounding rocket
von Braun, Wernher
Vostok
I spacecraft
Walker, Joe
Wapakoneta, Ohio
airport
Warren, Goodell
water safety and survival training
Webb, James
weightlessness
Wendt, Guenter
“The Wheel” (centrifuge)
White, Ed
death in launchpad fire
on Gemini 4
memorial to, on the moon
and Neil
one of Gemini Nine
White, Pat
White House ceremonies
Wiesner, Jerome B.
Williams, Brian
Williams, Clifton C.
Williams, Harold
Williams, Ted
Williams, Walt
Wilson, Charles E.
windows on spacecraft
Wright Patterson Air Force Base
X-15 rocket plane
XLR-99 rocket engine
Yardley, John
yaw maneuver
Yeager, Chuck
Young, John
Zond spacecraft
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In the course of his fifty-six-year career with NBC News, JAY BARBREE received an Emmy for his coverage of Neil Armstrong’s first walk on the moon, broke the news of the cause of the space shuttle Challenger accident, and continues to cover space for NBC TV and NBCnews.com. Barbree was also the lead writer for the New York Times bestseller Moon Shot with astronauts Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton, and Neil Armstrong.
ALSO BY JAY BARBREE
Bicycles in War
Pilot Error
The Hydra Pit
The Day I Died
Moon Shot
A Journey Through Time
Destination Mars
Live from Cape Canaveral
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
NEIL ARMSTRONG: A LIFE OF FLIGHT. Copyright © 2014 by Jay Barbree. Foreword copyright © 2014 by John Glenn. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Danielle Fiorella
Cover photographs courtesy of the author/NASA
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Barbree, Jay.
Neil Armstrong: a life of flight / Jay Barbree.—First edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-250-04071-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-3634-1 (e-book)
1. Armstrong, Neil, 1930–2012. 2. Astronauts—United States—Biography. 3. Project Apollo (U.S.)—History. 4. Space flight to the moon—History. I. Title.
TL789.85.A75B37 2014
629.450092—dc23
[B]
2014008696
eISBN 9781466836341
First Edition: July 2014