Background
Hansen, James E. was born on March 29, 1941.
(First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong is the first and on...)
First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong is the first and only authorised biography of one of America's most celebrated yet enigmatic heroes, Neil Armstrong. It is considered the definitive biography of Armstrong and lauded for the way Hansen addresses the complex legacy of Armstrong as both an astronaut and an individual. On 20 July 1969, the world stood still to watch 38-year-old astronaut Neil Armstrong become the first person ever to walk on the Moon. Perhaps no words in recent human history became better known than those few he uttered at that historic moment. Upon his return to Earth, Armstrong was honoured and celebrated for his achievement. But he was also misunderstood. As authorised biographer James Hansen reveals in this fascinating and important book, it was the act of flying that had driven Armstrong rather than the pull of the destination, from his distinguished career as a fighter pilot in the Korean War right through to his most famous mission. Drawing on flight logs, family interviews, NASA archives and over 125 original interviews with key participants, First Man vividly re-creates Armstrong's life and career, from the heights of honour earned as a naval aviator, test pilot and astronaut, to the dear personal price paid by Armstrong and, even more so, by his wife and children, for his dedication to his vocation. It is a unique portrait of a great but reluctant hero.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/147112603X/?tag=2022091-20
(Marking the forty-fifth anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon l...)
Marking the forty-fifth anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing, First Man by James Hansen offers the only authorized glimpse into the life of America’s most famous astronaut, Neil Armstrong—the man whose “one small step” changed history. “The Eagle has landed.” When Apollo 11 touched down on the moon’s surface in 1969, the first man on the moon became a legend. In First Man, Hansen explores the life of Neil Armstrong. Based on over fifty hours of interviews with the intensely private Armstrong, who also gave Hansen exclusive access to private documents and family sources, this “magnificent panorama of the second half of the American twentieth century” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) is an unparalleled biography of an American icon. Upon his return to earth, Armstrong was honored and celebrated for his monumental achievement. He was also—as James R. Hansen reveals in this fascinating and important biography—misunderstood. Armstrong’s accomplishments as engineer, test pilot, and astronaut have long been a matter of record, but Hansen’s unprecedented access to private documents and unpublished sources and his interviews with more than 125 subjects (including more than fifty hours with Armstrong himself) yield this first in-depth analysis of an elusive American celebrity still renowned the world over. In a riveting narrative filled with revelations, Hansen vividly recreates Armstrong’s career in flying, from his seventy-eight combat missions as a naval aviator flying over North Korea to his formative transatmospheric flights in the rocket-powered X-15 to his piloting Gemini VIII to the first-ever docking in space. These milestones made it seem, as Armstrong’s mother Viola memorably put it, “as if from the very moment he was born—farther back still—that our son was somehow destined for the Apollo 11 mission.” For a pilot who cared more about flying to the Moon than he did about walking on it, Hansen asserts, Armstrong’s storied vocation exacted a dear personal toll, paid in kind by his wife and children. For the forty-five years since the Moon landing, rumors have swirled around Armstrong concerning his dreams of space travel, his religious beliefs, and his private life. In a penetrating exploration of American hero worship, Hansen addresses the complex legacy of the First Man, as an astronaut and as an individual. In First Man, the personal, technological, epic, and iconic blend to form the portrait of a great but reluctant hero who will forever be known as history’s most famous space traveler.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476727813/?tag=2022091-20
administrator meteorologist physicist
Hansen, James E. was born on March 29, 1941.
Bachelor in Physics and Mathematics with highest distinction, University Iowa, 1963. Master of Science in Astronomy, University Iowa, 1965. Postgraduate, University Kyoto and Tokyo University, 1966.
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, University Iowa, 1967.
NAS-National Research Council resident research associate Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York City, 1967-1969, member staff, space scientist, manager planetary and climate programs, 1972-1981. National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow Leiden Observatory, Netherlands, 1969. Research associate Columbia University, 1969-1972.
Director National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York City, since 1981. Adjunct associate professor department geological science Columbia University, 1978-1985, adjunct professor, earth and environmental sciences, since 1985. Co-principal investigator AEROPOL (airbourne terrestrial infrared polarimeter) Project, 1971-1974.
Co-investigator Voyager Photopolarimeter Experiment, 1972-1985. Principal investigator Pioneer Venus Orbiter Cloud-Photopolarimeter Experiment, 1974-1978, co-investigator, 1978-1994. Principal investigator Galileo (Jupiter Orbiter) Photopolarimeter Radiometer Experiment, 1977-2000, Earth Observing System Interdisciplinary Investigation: Interannual Variability of Earth's Carbon, Energy and Water Cycles, 1989-2000.
(Marking the forty-fifth anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon l...)
(First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong is the first and on...)
Fellow: American Geophysical Union (Roger Revelle Medal 2002). Member: National Academy of Sciences.