Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969, and from that moment on, his name was etched in world history. Although many books have been written about Armstrong and his mission, this excellent and thorough biography is the first one ever authorized by the astronaut himself. This allowed Hansen (history, Auburn Univ.) access to Armstrong's papers as well as to 50 hours of interview with the astronaut himself. A fascinating account emerges of the career of Armstrong, widely regarded as intensely private and even reclusive. The book considers his early life, especially the influence of his mother Viola. Gemini 8 was Armstrong's first spaceflight mission, and he performed very well in a dangerous situation. The members of Apollo 11's crew--Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins--are called amiable strangers since they never developed strong personal relationships, as did other Apollo crews. After the mission, Armstrong went into NASA management for a year, then left to work as an aeronautics faculty member at the University of Cincinnati. The book also chronicles his struggle to return to a normal life. ^BSumming Up: Essential. All levels. J. Z. Kiss Miami University

On July 20, 1969, a quiet, determined man from Wapakoneta, Ohio, stepped out of his fragile spacecraft and into history. Neil Armstrong--engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, astronaut and devoted family man--became the first man to walk on the moon. In this powerful, unrelenting biography of a man of no particularly spectacular talent yet who stands as a living testimony to everyday grit and determination, former NASA historian Hansen has achieved something quite remarkable. Like a rich pointillist painting, he has created a magnificent panorama of the second half of the American 20th century by assembling a multitude of luminescent moments in one man's life. From Armstrong's birth to a middle-class family in Ohio to the mind-boggling fame of the Apollo 11 triumph, and later his service on the commission investigating the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster, Hansen details it all. He writes of the number of rounds of 20-millimeter ammunition loosed by Armstrong's fighter squadron in Korea in October 1951 (49,299), his heart rate on liftoff in Gemini VIII (146 beats per minute) and the price of a signed Armstrong letter at auction ($2,500). Rather than overwhelming, this accumulation of details gives flesh-and-blood reality to a man who is more icon than human. With the recent renewal of interest in manned space travel, this book is a must for astronaut buffs and history readers alike. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

For the first time, the cool, precise, and c-elebrity-averse Neil Armstrong has authorized a biography. Its readers cannot expect any more access to his emotional interior than the first man to walk on the moon has ever allowed, but they will learn about everything he achieved in aerospace engineering. Deflecting aerospace historian Hansen's inquiries about personal crises, such as the death of an infant daughter or his divorce, Armstrong proves disarmingly more voluble about his involvement with airplanes and spacecraft. Quelling apocrypha circulated at the time of Apollo 11 about the all-American boy who dreamed of going to the moon, Hansen follows the empirical arc of Armstrong's interest in aviation, his engineering studies at Purdue University, and his qualification as an aircraft-carrier pilot. After the Korean War, Armstrong resumed his engineering career, wrote technical papers, flew hotshot planes like the X-15, and stepped irrevocably into history with Apollo 11. Dramatizing the mission in meticulous detail, Hansen capably captures both Armstrong's expertise and his Garbo-like demurral of fame. --Gilbert Taylor Copyright 2005 Booklist

This authorized biography is a herculean research effort incorporating personal papers, NASA and other government records, and interviews with over 125 subjects (including Armstrong himself). Hansen (history, Auburn Univ.; Spaceflight Revolution), a former historian for NASA, covers Armstrong's Ohio boyhood and then follows his life as a jet fighter pilot in Korea, Purdue University student, test pilot in supersonic and hypersonic aircraft, and, finally, America's first man on the moon. Hansen's highly technical descriptions of the training programs at Cape Canaveral and Mission Control in Houston, explanation of how astronaut assignments are made, analysis of the onboard routines of the Gemini VIII and Apollo 11 missions, history of Apollo 11's lunar module program, his examination of Armstrong's conflict-avoidance relationship with his Apollo crewmates ("amiable strangers"), and discussion of the controversy surrounding NASA's veiled decision to have Armstrong ("the Lunar Lindy") as its "First Man" are all major contributions. Hansen also succeeds in penetrating his subject's seemingly enigmatic personality. His disclosure of Armstrong's private life-the tragic loss of a child and a painful divorce after 38 years of marriage-is handled with remarkable sensitivity. This impressively documented and engagingly written biography will stand the test of time. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/05.]-John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Cleveland (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.