NASA renames Plum Brook Station in Ohio after American Astronaut Neil Armstrong

A research facility in Ohio affiliated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has undergone a name change to honour Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon and also an Ohio native. Formerly known as NASA Plum Brook Station, the facility was given the moniker of Neil A. Armstrong Test facility earlier this week. According to Associated Press, the family of the late astronaut was involved and supported the renaming.

Armstrong had refuted the idea

Speaking at the occasion, Republican Rob Portman said that he had discussed the idea with Armstrong, months before his death in 2012. However, back then he had refused to highlight the unrequited attention that it would bring. Nearly a decade later, the name change finally happened with the full support of state senators and Armstrong’s family.

On July 16, 1969, Armstrong, along with Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins, blasted off in the Apollo 11vehicle toward the Moon. four days later, the Eagle lunar landing module, guided manually by Armstrong, touched down on a plain near the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquillity. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped from the Eagle onto the Moon’s dusty surface with the words, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind”. 

Armstrong and Aldrin left the module for more than two hours and deployed scientific instruments, collected surface samples, and took numerous photographs. After 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon, they lifted off to rendezvous with Collins and begin the voyage back to Earth. The team was hailed for their part in the opening of a new era in the human exploration of the universe. 

Armstrong resigned from NASA in 1971. He confined himself to academic and professional endeavours. From 1971 to 1979 he was a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio). After 1979 Armstrong served as chairman or director for a number of companies, among them Computing Technologies for Aviation from 1982 to 1992 and AIL Systems. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009. He died on August 25, 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Image: NASA.gov