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There is no single defining moment in Armstrong's long flight career that made him choose to become an Astronaut. He was uniquely suited for the job though, having been a Naval Aviator in the Korean War, and flying as a Test Pilot for the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA), the forerunner of NASA. Several of his missions were in the X-15 rocket plane, which explored the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

He was selected for the Air Force's Man In Space Soonest program (MISS), which was the attempt to beat the Soviet Union into space. The program eventually evolved into Project Mercury, the first U.S. Manned Flight missions.

Armstrong was contacted by Mercury Astronaut Deke Slayton in 1962, asking him if he wanted to be considered for the Gemini Missions, to which he immediately replied yes. The Gemini Mission crews were the only ones who could fly the Apollo missions, and it was by chance that Armstrong drew the straw for Apollo XI's historic lunar landing on July 20, 1969.

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15y ago

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