Dang! Nine lives for that guy.Originally Posted by neilmpenny
Neil Armstrong Escaped Death 7 Times As A Pilot
1. Armstrong ejects after a portion of the right wing of his jet is sheared off
Date: September 3, 1951
Armstrong was flying a F9F Panther fighter bomber in the Korean war when he was hit by anti-aircraft fire. A portion of the jet's right wing was sliced after he struck a pole trying to regain control. After maneuvering back to friendly territory, the skilled aviator ejected over land where he was scooped up by a roommate from flight school. Armstrong was just 21 years old.
2. Armstrong barely manages to land without striking trees
Date: April 20, 1962
During testing of the X-15 (a plane that could hit speeds up to six times the speed of sound), Armstrong overshot the landing field at Edwards Air Force base in California. He was able to turn around and managed to land on a lakebed near the base, barely missing some Joshua trees.
3. The landing gear of Armstrong's jet gets stuck in the mud
Date: April 24, 1962
Just four days after the X-15 incident, Armstrong found himself in another sticky situation, this time while flying a T-33 training jet with passenger Chuck Yeager. Apparently, Yeager had warned him that the landing site, Smith Dry Ranch Lake, wasn't suitable for landing due to a recent rainstorm. But Armstrong insisted on flying and ended up getting stuck in the mud.
4. The landing gear of Armstrong's jet begins to retract
Date: May 21, 1962
While attempting to land at Delamar Dry Lake, one of the designated emergency landing sites for the X-15, the landing gear of Armstrong's F-104 Startfighter began to retract. Armstrong aborted the landing and made an emergency landing at Nellis Air Force Base.
5. The Gemini 8 spacecraft tumbles out of control
Date: March 16, 1966
In 1966, Armstrong took his first flight into space as the command pilot of Gemini 8. The mission was supposed to last three days. But less than 30 minutes after docking with another vehicle and only six hours into the mission, the spacecraft went into an uncontrolled spin. After stabilizing the capsule, Armstrong was forced to make an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean.
6. Armstrong narrowly escapes death after losing control of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV)
Date: May 6, 1968
One year before setting foot on the moon, Armstrong was nearly killed while test-driving the lunar landing research vehicle. He was able to eject out of the tumbling module mere seconds before it crashed to the ground and exploded in flames.
7. Armstrong overrides auto-pilot to avoid a field of large boulders on the moon
Date: July 20, 1969
With less than 30 seconds of fuel left, Armstrong had to override auto-pilot on the Apollo 11 lunar module to avoid a field of large boulders before landing in a safe spot.
Pioneers with balls of steel are my heroes.
Death taps them on the shoulder and smiles - they look around and smile back.
Some people think that the space program and going to the moon was money wasted; but so much of our technology today springs from the discoveries realized during that endeavor.
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