Neil Armstrong Donates His Papers To Former College
Former astronaut Neil Armstrong has agreed to donate personal papers, that date back from the start of his flight career, to Purdue University.
"Armstrong’s papers will be an inspiration for students and invaluable to researchers," said Sammie Morris, assistant professor of library science and head of Purdue Libraries Archives and Special Collections.
"For researchers, it’s going to be a boon. No one has been able to research these papers or study them," Morris said.
The donation is going to be announced by Purdue President France A. Cordova, NASA’s first female chief scientist.Â
James R. Hansen, author of the 2005 book "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," is donating 55 hours of one-on-one recorded interviews with Armstrong.
The interviews and Armstrong’s papers will serve as the starting point for Purdue Libraries’ effort to build a comprehensive flight collection. They’ll be contained in a special collection that also includes papers and artifacts related to aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world.
In 1955, Armstrong graduated from Purdue with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering, a year and a half after a break from his studies to serve as a U.S. Navy pilot in the Korean War. Later he was named a NASA astronaut in 1962.
On July 20, 1969, Armstrong piloted the Apollo 11 landing module onto the moon with only 30 seconds of fuel remaining.
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