Neil Armstrong : a life of flight / Jay Barbree.

Includes index.

A wing and a prayer -- Test flight, high desert, and a satellite or three -- Those who would ride rockets -- The moon is calling -- Pasadena overshoot -- Training days -- Home fire -- The Gemini twins are flying -- Gemini 8 -- Gemini 8: the docking -- Gemini 8: the emergency -- Tragedies ground spaceflight -- How to land on the moon -- Hello moon -- The misfits -- Rehearsal finals -- The launch -- Outbound -- The landing -- Moonwalk -- The return -- Back home -- An American tragedy -- Space shuttle and beyond -- Then, now, and tomorrow.

"To date, everything written about Armstrong's life and flights has been written from the outside looking in; Barbree is the only person whom Neil Armstrong trusted to share close personal details about his inspiring life story. Working from his years of notes, and with the full cooperation of the Armstrong family, Barbree has written the definitive biography of America's most famous astronaut and one of our greatest modern heroes. Much has already been written about Armstrong and the major players who helped him fly to the moon, but he wanted this book to emphasize his two passions--family and flight. Barbree and Armstrong discussed everything, from his two marriages and the death of his baby daughter, to his love of flying, the war years and of course, his time in space. The book, timed to coincide with the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch and full of never-before-seen photos, includes many personal details that have never before been written, such as what Armstrong really felt when he took that first step on the moon, what life in NASA was like, his relationships with the other astronauts, and what he felt the future of space exploration should be."-- Provided by publisher.