[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING NEIL ARMSTRONG AS HE RECEIVES THE NASA AMBASSADOR OF 
                           EXPLORATION AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JEAN SCHMIDT

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2006

  Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Neil Armstrong, a 
war hero, teacher, businessman, and one of the world's greatest 
explorers, who received the prestigious National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA) Ambassador of Exploration Award on April 18, 2006 
at the Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
  An Ohio native son, Neil Armstrong rewrote history in July of 1969 
when he was the first man to set foot on the moon. Mr. Armstrong served 
as commander of Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission. He 
was accompanied on this historical journey to the moon by Command 
Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin (Buzz) 
Aldrin.
  Born in 1930, Mr. Armstrong always had a fascination for airplanes 
and space travel. He started taking flying lessons at the age of 
fifteen and received his pilot's license at the age of sixteen.
  After graduating from high school in 1947, Mr. Armstrong entered 
Purdue University with a U.S. Navy Scholarship. He started working 
toward an aeronautical engineering degree, but in 1949, he was called 
to active duty with the U.S. Navy. He was awarded his jet wings at 
Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida at the age of 20, making him the 
youngest pilot in his squadron. During his service in Korea, he flew 78 
combat missions in Navy panther jets earning three Air Medals. After 
his service, he returned to Purdue to complete his bachelor's degree in 
aeronautical engineering in 1955. He went on to earn his master's in 
aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 
1970.
  Mr. Armstrong joined NACA (National Advisory Committee for 
Aeronautics), NASA's predecessor, where as a research test pilot he 
piloted the X-I5, an experimental rocket plane. In 1962, he attained 
astronaut status and in 1966 served as command pilot for the Gemini 8 
mission. Following his 1969 mission to the moon, Mr. Armstrong held the 
position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA for 
several years.
  Aside from his sizeable contributions to aeronautics, Mr. Armstrong 
has also made an impact in the college classroom. From 1971-1979, he 
was a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of 
Cincinnati.
  He previously served as chairman of Computing Technologies for 
Aviation in Charlottesville, Virginia, and chairman of the board of AIL 
Systems, an electronics systems company located in New York. He 
currently serves as chairman of CTA Inc. in Lebanon, Ohio.
  In addition to worldwide recognition for his role on the Apollo 11, 
Mr. Armstrong has earned countless awards and distinctions for his many 
accomplishments, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 
highest award bestowed upon a U.S. citizen; the NASA Distinguished 
Service Medal; the NASA Exceptional Service Medal; and the 
Congressional Space Medal of Honor. He is a former Chairman of the 
Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.
  Mr. Armstrong and his wife Carol currently reside in Indian Hill and 
own a farm in Warren County. He has two grown sons.
  All of us in the Cincinnati area congratulate Neil Armstrong on 
receiving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ambassador 
of Exploration Award.

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