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James R. Hansen, the man chosen to write Astronaut Neil Armstrong's official biography, visited Langley Research Center on Dec. 1 and delivered a Colloquium Lecture in the H.J.E. Reid Conference Center. The subject of the lecture was his book, "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," which was released in October.
Image Left: Author James R. Hansen speaks to Langley employees during his Colloquium Lecture in the H.J.E. Reid Conference Center Dec. 1. Photo by Paul Bagby.
The focus of Hansen's lecture was on the life of the first man to step foot on the moon.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about Armstrong out there," said Hansen. "One of the things that want to emphasize is how big Neil's aeronautical background was. He became an astronaut only after he had already become a professional engineer and test pilot. What brought him to Apollo and the moon landing was his experience as a test pilot and his work in Aeronautics."
The fact that Armstrong spent some time as an engineer working at Dryden Flight Research Center, as Hansen spent time working at Langley, creates a parallel between the author and subject.
"My years here at Langley, and the writing of two books involving Langley's history, were critical to not only how I wrote the book, but getting to write the book in the first place," said Hansen.
Hansen worked as a historian for Langley during the 1980s and 90s, and authored books such as "Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center from Sputnik to Apollo" and "Engineer in Charge: A History of the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, 1917-1958."
"Being back here today is really making a full circle, because now I'm talking about Armstrong. But, it was really my work at Langley that allowed me to do the Armstrong biography."
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