Aeronautics is the science of aircraft and flight, which Armstrong studied at Purdue University and in Navy flight school. It became a large part of his job when he worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and then for NASA. He also dedicated himself to the research and teaching of aeronautics later in life, when he became a professor at the University of Cincinnati in the 1970s.

Apollo 11 is one of the missions in the Apollo Program—the third NASA program, after Project Mercury and Project Gemini—with the goal of getting human beings onto the surface of the moon. The Apollo 11 mission was headed by Armstrong. His crew consisted of two other astronauts, “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins. These three men piloted a multi-part craft into space and, for the first time in human history, set foot on the lunar surface—an achievement that provides the narrative climax of Edwards’s book and emphasizes its thematic focus on The Importance of Perseverance and Dedication in Achieving One’s Goals. Armstrong was the first to step out of the spacecraft, uttering the famous words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (87).