Science

Moon landing bombshell: Neil Armstrong’s shocking ‘mistake’ revealed in lost records


NASA’s Apollo 11 mission famously landed on the Moon just shy of 50 years ago with Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to walk on the Lunar surface, shortly followed by Buzz Aldrin. However, what many do not know, is the legendary astronaut could have actually missed his monumental mission on July 20, 1969, after cheating death a few years earlier. The North American X-15 was a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft operated by the US Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental flights. 

The jet set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data for NASA ahead of planned missions to space. 

Armstrong, being the fearless pilot he was at the time, volunteered to a daring test in April 1962, but it has been revealed during Altitude films’ upcoming release “Armstrong” things did not go to plan. 

Voiced by Harrison Ford, Armstrong’s memoirs reveal: “This particular flight they went to somewhere around 200,000 feet. 

“In the process, I got the nose up above the horizon and I tried to push down, but discovered I had no aerodynamic control. 

“I was actually skipping outside of the atmosphere. 

“It wasn’t going down as there was no air for it to bite into. 

“I just had to wait until I got enough air to have aerodynamic control and some lift on the wing and I immediately started to make a turn back.” 

Armstrong took the rocket plane to an altitude of 207,000 feet – the highest any human had reached, had it not been for his quick-thinking he may have suffered the same fatal fate as many other test pilots. 

Joe Engle, a former X-15 pilot and astronaut, detailed how Armstrong’s cool-headed approach was key to him surviving. 

It would also prove vital in his selection onto the Apollo 11 programme. 

Mr Engle said: “It’s like being on a very fast horse and riding it at full speed. 

“You need to be looking straight ahead, where the fences are, where the rocks are and avoid them early – you can’t wait until the last moment. 

“That was Neil, he did a magnificent job, but he was not the type of person to run out and say ‘look at me, I’m Neil Armstrong’. 

“He was the kind of person you just wanted to like.” 

Directed by David Fairhead, “Armstrong” will be in UK and Irish cinemas on July 9, to celebrate 50 years since the first Moon landing. 

The film was made with the full support of Mr Armstrong’s family after his death in August 2012 and includes previously unseen footage of history’s most famous astronaut. 

It also features his own words based on interviews, writings and speeches as well as interviews with his first wife and two sons. 



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