Neil Armstrong Facts & Worksheets

Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 just outside of Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Armstrong was interested in flight from a very early age. When he was just two years old his dad took him to the Cleveland Air Races and he took his first airplane flight in a Ford Trimotor (also known as The Tin Goose) with his father in Warren, Ohio on July 20, 1936 when he was five.

Neil Armstrong could fly a plane before he could drive a car! He got his student flight certificate on his 16th birthday and then did his first solo flight later that month. All of this before he even had a drivers license.

At 17, Neil Armstrong studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University as part of a scholarship by the US Navy. He was also accepted to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) but another engineer who had been to MIT told him he didn’t need to go there for a good education.

While at Purdue, Armstrong was called up to fight in the Korean War for the US Navy as a pilot. He flew 78 missions over Korea for a total of 121 hours in the air – most of which were in January of 1952.

Neil Armstrong received the Air Medal for 20 combat missions, a Gold Star for the next 20 missions, and the Korean Service Medal and Engagement Star for his heroics in the war.

After his service with the Navy, Armstrong returned to Purdue University to complete his studies and got better grades after the war than he did before. He finished with a GPA of 4.8 out of 6.0.

In 1955 he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) which would later become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He was an engineer at NACA and was also a test pilot for experimental aircraft and modified bombers – like the X-15 rocket plane which he flew 7 times to maximum altitude of 207,500 feet.

In 1962, he was asked whether he would be interested in joining the NASA Astronaut Corps. Without hesitation, Armstrong responded “Yes!”. He moved to Houston, Texas to join the astronaut program.

Neil Armstrong was the Command Pilot for the Gemini 8 mission on March 16, 1966, along with fellow astronaut David Scott as Pilot. During this mission, they managed to dock two vehicles in space, which had never been done before. The mission was cut short though because of technical difficulties.

Armstrong was also a backup Command Pilot for the Gemini 11 mission. He had a lot of knowledge about the systems used on the mission and took on a teaching role for Gemini 11.

On July 16, 1969 that Neil Armstrong, along with fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, launched the Apollo 11 manned mission to the Moon.

July 20, 1969 is one of the most memorable days in human history, as Neil Armstrong piloted Buzz Aldrin to the Moon’s surface in the Lunar Module. They spent over two hours collecting rock samples, taking photographs and exploring the surface of the Moon. Apollo 11 returned to Earth on July 24, 1969.

As Neil Armstrong placed his left boot onto the surface of the moon at 2:56 UTC July 21, 1969, he spoke the now famous words: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.“

After his return to Earth, Armstrong became an instant celebrity. He was never comfortable with the media attention though and rarely gave interviews on the mission. He worked with NASA until the 70s when he retired to become a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

Neil Armstrong died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 25, 2012, after complications from heart surgery. He was 82 when he died.

Neil Armstrong Worksheets

This bundle includes 15 ready-to-use Neil Armstrong worksheets spanning over 30 pages! These are perfect for students to learn about the American astronaut who on July 20th 1969 was the first person to walk on the Moon – one of the greatest achievements in human history.