A Reluctant Icon: Letters to Neil Armstrong

401 Pages·2020·4.18 MB·English

by  James R. Hansen (editor)

PURDUE STUDIES IN AERONAUTICS
AND ASTRONAUTICS
James R. Hansen, Series Editor
Purdue Studies in Aeronautics and Astronautics builds on Purdue’s
leadership in aeronautic and astronautic engineering, as well as the
historic accomplishments of many of its luminary alums. Works in the
series will explore cutting-edge topics in aeronautics and astronautics
enterprises, tell unique stories from the history of flight and space travel,
and contemplate the future of human space exploration and colonization.
RECENT BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Dear Neil Armstrong: Letters to the First Man from All Mankind
James R. Hansen (Ed.)
Piercing the Horizon: The Story of Visionary NASA Chief Tom Paine
Sunny Tsiao
Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom
George Leopold
Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as
NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer
Jerry Ross
Letters to
Neil Armstrong
JJAAMMEESS RR.. HHAANNSSEENN
PPuurrdduuee UUnniivveerrssiittyy PPrreessss
WWeesstt LLaaffaayyeettttee,, IInnddiiaannaa
Copyright 2020 by Purdue University. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the Library of Congress.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-55753-969-4
EPUB ISBN: 978-1-55753-970-0
EPDF ISBN: 978-1-55753-971-7
The majority of the letters featured in this volume are from the Neil A.
Armstrong papers in the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration
Archives, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections.
Condolence letters courtesy of Carol Armstrong.
“A great man is always willing to be little.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
I dedicate this book to those rare men and women of the world
who are naturally “little,” achieve greatness, and always stay true
to what they are. For they are the giants of our humankind.

CONTENTS
PREFACE IX
1 RELIGION AND BELIEF 1
2 ANGER, DISAPPOINTMENT,
AND DISILLUSIONMENT 36
3 QUACKS, CONSPIRACY THEORISTS,
AND UFOLOGISTS 55
4 FELLOW ASTRONAUTS AND THE
WORLD OF FLIGHT 107
5 THE CORPORATE WORLD 190
6 CELEBRITIES, STARS, AND NOTABLES 214
7 LETTERS FROM A GRIEVING WORLD 272
NOTES 377
ABOUT THE EDITOR 383

PREFACE
Why do I want to publish yet another book about Neil Armstrong? It is a
fair question and one that I have already been asked by several colleagues
and friends while preparing this second book of letters to Neil Armstrong
for Purdue University Press. It is likely a question to be asked again. So
let me explain.
In 2005 I published First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, intending
the book to stand for a long time as the definitive account of Armstrong’s
life. First Man seemed definitive enough: 770 pages, including 64 pages
of endnotes and a 20-page bibliography, based on fifty-five hours of
exclusive one-on-one personal interviews with Armstrong in his suburban
Cincinnati home. Overall, I conducted oral history interviews with over a
hundred different people and corresponded by letter, email, and telephone
with several dozen more. Along the way I learned everything I could about
Neil — from family members (his sister, June; brother, Dean; wives, Janet
and Carol; and sons, Rick and Mark); from numerous schoolmates from
grade school, high school, and college; from several of his fellow naval avi-
ators, test pilots, astronauts, and NASA officials; from friends, both casual
and close; from his associates during his post-NASA years at the University
of Cincinnati and those after he entered corporate business; and from
miscellaneous others whose lives intersected with Neil’s. Furthermore, Neil
himself had done something that made First Man rather definitive — he
authorized it.
ix