

A tale of the supreme competence of Neil Armstrong - queensnake
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/08/neil-armstrong-rip/

======
gvb
He overcame some computer problems as he landed the Lunar Module as well. His
experience, knowledge, and sheer courage were amazing.

<http://www.doneyles.com/LM/Tales.html>

 _ABSTRACT: The Apollo 11 mission succeeded in landing on the moon despite two
computer-related problems that affected the Lunar Module during the powered
descent. An uncorrected problem in the rendezvous radar interface stole
approximately 13% of the computer's duty cycle, resulting in five program
alarms and software restarts. In a less well-known problem, caused by
erroneous data, the thrust of the LM's descent engine fluctuated wildly
because the throttle control algorithm was only marginally stable._

~~~
runjake
This story was mentioned in the penultimate paragraph.

~~~
eridius
That paragraph only said the Eagle was heading towards some boulders. It
didn't explain why.

In any case, as was said in the antepenultimate paragraph, it seems Neil
Armstrong really was the right man for the lunar landing.

------
phillmv
>Although the comparative lack of hands-on control led some astronauts to call
themselves ‘spam in a can’, these missions called for both the highest order
of technical skill and the steeliest of nerves. Aldrin’s pulse-rate at blast-
off was only 110 and, within minutes of landing on the Moon, Armstrong’s was
down to 90.

[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n17/steven-shapin/what-did-you-
expe...](http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n17/steven-shapin/what-did-you-expect)

Man, I sometimes have a hard time walking around my office when it's pitch
dark and no one else is around.

~~~
bootload
_"... Aldrin’s pulse-rate at blast-off was only 110 ..."_

Excellent read. John Young had pulse-rate measurement of 70 (probably 16 as
told by Al Bean) which meant everything was going OK during launch. cf _"In
the Shadow of the Moon"_ ~
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Shadow_of_the_Moon#Apol...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Shadow_of_the_Moon#Apollo_16)

~~~
bootload
as told by Charlie Duke ~ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c77ED7ZsMc>

------
sasvari
This reminds me of an article [0] I read in the German brandeins magazine some
years ago about the improvisations Sowjet Union cosmonauts had to do in orbit
(English translation [1]). So whereas US astronauts were not as free (or
forced to be as free) as their Sowjet counterparts, they still had their skill
set by hand. These were fascinating times.

[0] [http://www.brandeins.de/magazin/wir-rechnen-mit-allem-die-
ku...](http://www.brandeins.de/magazin/wir-rechnen-mit-allem-die-kunst-der-
improvisation/anarchie-im-all.html)

[1]
[http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&...](http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brandeins.de%2Fmagazin%2Fwir-
rechnen-mit-allem-die-kunst-der-improvisation%2Fanarchie-im-all.html&act=url)

------
Dove
I once had the opportunity to ask a fighter pilot what flying such an advanced
jet in a tactical situation was like. He said, "Like doing calculus while
lifting weights."

No wonder getting that sort of job is hard!

~~~
lurker14
Especially impressive to say "calculus", which shows actual awareness of
mathematics, and suggests that the speaker really has tried something like
that. Usually people say "algebra" when they want a word that just sounds
mathy.

~~~
Dove
Not that unexpected, though. Pilots in general, and particularly fighter
pilots, usually have a technical background on par with a four year degree in
science or engineering. Often more.

Astronauts, even more so.

------
rubidium
If you like reading about this, I recommend "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe.

He also explores the interesting dynamics of how the astronauts using "simple"
rockets became more famous than pilots who achieved stick-based flight to
near-space levels.

~~~
moioci
Noteworthy that Armstrong as an X-15 pilot falls in both of these groups.

------
hcarvalhoalves
They should make movies about people like him (and the whole NASA staff
actually), instead of another Captain America or whatnot. Real people, with
good sides and bad sides, but who did amazing things.

~~~
ken
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/>

Don't be put off by the fact that it's a "TV mini-series". It's 12 hours of
"Apollo 13"-quality shows.

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
Thank you, didn't knew about that.

------
gvb
Another tribute I very much enjoyed: "Neil Armstrong, In His Own Words"
[http://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/Neil-Armstrong-In-
His-...](http://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/Neil-Armstrong-In-His-Own-
Words-167547355.html)

------
bricestacey
That's a fascinating story. I'm curious what would it actually feel like to
rotate 1 rotation per second in space? I guess the bigger factor may be
location within the spacecraft (e.g. I imagine if near the center it would be
much less stressful).

~~~
grecy
I just tried the the old spin the office chair, with a buddy counting roughly
1 revolution per second. I was holding my laptop and trying to surf.

I feel sick now.

~~~
defen
Don't forget this happened while he was in a spacecraft orbiting the earth
when this happened, AKA free-fall or (approximately) zero-g until it started
spinning. Here on earth it's probably not even possible to recreate the
conditions he experienced.

------
Patient0
To present another side: I remember from reading Chuck Yeager's autobiography
that Neil Armstrong was also a bit cocky and "know-it-all". However, I cannot
find a quote of the passage online.

I did find this interesting anecdote in which Neil Armstrong _doesn't_ appear
quite so clever: <http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/yea0int-7>

~~~
protomyth
It should be pointed out the Neil Armstrong was US Navy and Chuck Yeager was
US Air Force, so there is a bit of inter service rivalry. Chuck Yeager did
tweet '"Too bad we lost one of our good pioneers. Neil (Armstrong) was a good
friend and we'll miss him" - General Chuck Yeager'. Yeager's comments seem to
jive with a lot of others that Armstrong was a great engineer.

~~~
ArbitraryLimits
It kind of freaks me out that Chuck Yeager has a a twitter account.

~~~
smackfu
It kind of freaks me out that Chuck Yeager is still alive (89 and going
strong). From The Right Stuff, he seems like he's from an earlier generation
than the astronauts, but I guess he was roughly their contemporary.

------
caycep
The closest call was that story where he bailed out of the training LEM a
split second before it stalled out and exploded...

~~~
kyleslattery
Yeah, and from what I've read/heard about the incident, he just casually went
along with the rest of his day, like nothing even happened.

Here's a great photo of it: [http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/08/neil-
armstrong-19...](http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/08/neil-
armstrong-1930-2012/100359/#img09)

------
expralitemonk
A cockpit video from one of the shuttle missions: just after launch, with the
boosters still attached and burning at full thrust, the commander turned to
the pilot and asked, "Feel that? That wobble is from the wind blowing through
the fuel tank strut..." Right Stuff indeed.

------
Gravityloss
His copilot on that Gemini mission, David Scott also praised Armstrong's
actions. In the book Two Sides of the Moon he wrote something to the tune of
"I don't know how Neil did it, but he did it", but I think it was related to
pushing some buttons in an awkward place in an overhead panel in the spinning
spacecraft with little time left.

I think that's closest there can be to an original source for that event.
Scott was there.

------
brudgers
This spring I read _Lost Moon,_ Lovell's account of Apollo 13 co-authored with
Jeffery Kluger. There's nothing routine when you're surrounded by a couple of
hundred thousand miles of hard vacuum.

[http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Moon-Perilous-Voyage-
Apollo/dp/B0...](http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Moon-Perilous-Voyage-
Apollo/dp/B007BWGOHS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346210416&sr=8-1&keywords=lost+moon)

