{"id":168476,"date":"2020-05-26T10:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T14:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-461021"},"modified":"2023-08-25T10:08:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T14:08:58","slug":"50-years-ago-armstrong-visits-the-soviet-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-armstrong-visits-the-soviet-union\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Years Ago: Armstrong Visits the Soviet Union"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nearly a year had passed since Neil A. Armstrong made history when he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-one-small-step-one-giant-leap\/\">stepped onto the lunar surface<\/a>. Shortly after returning from their historic mission, Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crewmates Michael Collins and Edwin E. \u201cBuzz\u201d Aldrin took a 38-day around the world <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-apollo-11-astronauts-return-from-around-the-world-goodwill-tour\/\">Presidential Goodwill Tour<\/a>, visiting 22 countries. Armstrong announced he had no plans to return to space, and on May 18, 1970, NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine named him Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, a position in Washington, DC, he held for about one year before retiring from the agency. Between May 24 and June 5, 1970, Armstrong traveled to the Soviet Union, a country not on the goodwill tour\u2019s itinerary, at the invitation of the USSR Academy of Sciences. While the primary purpose of his visit was to give a talk at a conference in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Armstrong also traveled to Novosibirsk in western Siberia and to Moscow. His visit marked another step in the slowly warming relationship between the two space superpowers that ultimately led to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/45-years-ago-us-soviet-docking-two-months-away\/\">Apollo-Soyuz Test Project<\/a> (ASTP) joint docking mission in July 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970.jpg\" width=\"234\" height=\"153\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_at_cospar_in_leningrad_may_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_at_cospar_in_leningrad_may_1970.jpg\" width=\"273\" height=\"153\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_giving_speech_probably_at_cospar_may_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_giving_speech_probably_at_cospar_may_1970.jpg\" width=\"194\" height=\"154\"><br>\n<em>Left: Armstrong arriving at Leningrad\u2019s Pulkovo Airport. Middle: Armstrong in the audience during<br>\nthe COSPAR meeting. Right: Armstrong during a panel discussion at COSPAR.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arriving from Warsaw, Poland, Armstrong landed at Leningrad\u2019s Pulkovo Airport on May 24, only the second American astronaut to touch down on Soviet territory, following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-national-goal-nears-fulfillment\/\">Frank Borman\u2019s visit<\/a> in early July 1969. Soviet cosmonauts Georgi T. Beregovoi and Konstantin P. Feoktistov welcomed him at the airport and served as Armstrong\u2019s hosts throughout his Soviet travels. Beregovoi and Feoktistov had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-cosmonauts-visit-united-states\/\">visited the United States<\/a> in October 1969, including the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now the Johnson Space Center in Houston, but did not meet Armstrong as he was on the goodwill tour. Armstrong spent five days in Leningrad, attending the 13th annual conference of the International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). NASA Deputy Administrator George M. Low also attended the conference and held private discussions with Soviet counterparts regarding future cooperation in space, early steps on the road that ultimately led to ASTP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_cospar_armstrong_giving_lecture\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_cospar_armstrong_giving_lecture.jpg\" width=\"517\" height=\"354\"><br>\n<em>Armstrong giving his talk at the COSPAR meeting in Leningrad\u2019s Tauride Palace.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Armstrong gave his talk entitled \u201cLunar surface exploration\u201c on May 25 to an enthusiastic audience of more than 1,200 delegates from 30 countries. Three days later, he narrated films of the Apollo 11 and 12 missions, with the 18th century Tauride Palace, once the seat of Russia\u2019s parliament, serving as the venue for the COSPAR meeting. During his stay in Leningrad, Armstrong\u2019s hosts took him sightseeing to some of the city\u2019s most notable and historic places, including the Piskarevskoye memorial cemetery, the Hermitage Museum, the cruiser <em>Avrora<\/em>, the Naval History Museum and the Peterhof Palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_piskarevskoye_memorial_cemetery\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_piskarevskoye_memorial_cemetery.jpg\" width=\"257\" height=\"174\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_hermitage\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_hermitage.jpg\" width=\"113\" height=\"174\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_peterhof_palace_fountain_hi_quality\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_leningrad_peterhof_palace_fountain_hi_quality.jpg\" width=\"135\" height=\"177\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_peterhof_palace_w_peter_1s_quill_at_his_desk\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_peterhof_palace_w_peter_1s_quill_at_his_desk.jpg\" width=\"112\" height=\"178\"><br>\n<em>Scenes of Armstrong touring in Leningrad. Far left: At Piskarevskoye memorial cemetery.<br>\nMiddle left: At the Hermitage Museum. Middle right: In the gardens of Peterhof Palace.<br>\nFar right: \u201cBehind the ropes,\u201d holding a quill in Peter the Great\u2019s study. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On May 29, Armstrong and his hosts flew to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, home to the closed Soviet science city Akademgorodok. Academician Mikhail A. Lavrentyev of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences welcomed them at the airport, and along with Novosibirsk mayor Ivan Sevastyanov, acted as his local host. In addition to scientists, Armstrong also met with schoolchildren in the Young Technicians Club in Akademgorodok, making this entry into the Distinguished Guests Book: \u201cContinued best wishes in building the world of tomorrow.\u201d  Armstrong\u2019s hosts took him on a tour of the city, and for relaxation invited him, Beregovoi, Feoktistov and several scientists aboard the yacht <em>Fakel<\/em> for a cruise to an island in the nearby Ob reservoir. Despite inclement weather on the way out to the island, the group enjoyed a lovely picnic in the countryside with Armstrong contributing his culinary talents to the making of a pot of fish soup called <em>ukha<\/em>. While in Novosibirsk, Armstrong reportedly collected a handful of soil from outside the house of Russian engineer and rocket scientist Yuri A. Kondratyuk, who early in the 20th century developed the first concept of Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, the mission profile NASA chose for the Apollo Moon landing missions. In 2016, Novosibirsk State University commemorated Armstrong\u2019s visit to Akademgorodok with a marble monument laid near the building of the Physics and Mathematics School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_arrival_in_novosibirsk_may_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_arrival_in_novosibirsk_may_1970.png\" width=\"257\" height=\"178\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_novosibirsk_glory_monument\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_novosibirsk_glory_monument.jpg\" width=\"116\" height=\"179\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_novosibirsk_glory_monument_eternal_flame\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_novosibirsk_glory_monument_eternal_flame.jpg\" width=\"273\" height=\"179\"><br>\n<em>Left: Armstrong arriving in Novosibirsk. Middle: Touring the Glory Monument in Novosibirsk.<br>\nRight: Laying flowers at the eternal flame of the Glory Monument in Novosibirsk.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_and_beregovoi_sampling_stew_at_picnic\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_and_beregovoi_sampling_stew_at_picnic.jpg\" width=\"241\" height=\"161\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_cookout_w_beregovoy_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_cookout_w_beregovoy_1970.jpg\" width=\"202\" height=\"161\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russian_from_twitter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russian_from_twitter.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"161\"><br>\n<em>Scenes from the outing to the island on Ob Reservoir. Left: Cooking <\/em>ukha<em>.<br>\nMiddle: Armstrong and Beregovoi tasting the <\/em>ukha<em> they helped prepare.<br>\nRight: Armstrong enjoying a peaceful moment.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_picnic_in_novosibirsk\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_picnic_in_novosibirsk.jpg\" width=\"248\" height=\"161\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"monument_to_armstrong_visit_to_akademgorodok_may_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/monument_to_armstrong_visit_to_akademgorodok_may_1970.jpg\" width=\"291\" height=\"162\"><br>\n<em>Left: Armstrong (at center, wearing sunglasses) enjoying a picnic on the island.<br>\nRight: Marble monument to commemorate Armstrong\u2019s visit to Akademgorodok<br>\nin Novosibirsk.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the evening of May 31, Armstrong and his hosts boarded a commercial airliner to Moscow, the passengers blissfully unaware that for part of the flight Armstrong and Beregovoi took turns piloting the aircraft. Over the next five days, they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0v92lTsbdFI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">toured Moscow\u2019s Red Square including Lenin\u2019s tomb<\/a>, laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Aleksandr Garden and flowers at the ashes of Yuri A. Gagarin, the first human in space, entombed in the Kremlin Wall. Accompanied by US Ambassador Jacob D. Beam, Armstrong met in the Kremlin with Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers Aleksei N. Kosygin for an hour and presented him, on behalf of President Richard M. Nixon, with chips from a Moon rock and a small flag of the Soviet Union that had traveled aboard Apollo 11. Kosygin said he would \u201calways cherish this gift as a symbol of a great achievement,\u201d telling Armstrong that \u201cThe Soviet peoples are second to none in admiring your courage and knowledge.\u201d During Armstrong\u2019s stay in Moscow, famed Soviet aircraft designer Andrey N. Tupolev took him to a hanger to see the Tu-144 supersonic airliner, making Armstrong the first Westerner to see the sleek aircraft up close. Tupolev presented him with a model of the Tu-144 that he later donated to the Smithsonian Institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"arsmtrong_in_russia_red_square_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/arsmtrong_in_russia_red_square_1970.png\" width=\"221\" height=\"172\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_laying_wreath_in_aleksandr_sad_moscow\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_laying_wreath_in_aleksandr_sad_moscow.jpg\" width=\"222\" height=\"172\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_touring_kremlin_grounds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_touring_kremlin_grounds.jpg\" width=\"178\" height=\"172\"><br>\n<em>Left: Armstrong touring outside the Kremlin wall in Moscow. Middle: Armstrong (left) and Feoktistov<br>\nlaying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Aleksander Garden outside the<br>\nKremlin wall. Right: Armstrong the Kremlin square.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_laying_flowers_on_gagarin_grave_kremlin_wall\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_laying_flowers_on_gagarin_grave_kremlin_wall.jpg\" width=\"203\" height=\"204\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_w_kosygin_wo_interpreter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_w_kosygin_wo_interpreter.jpg\" width=\"167\" height=\"205\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_and_an_tupolev_with_model_of_tu-144\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_and_an_tupolev_with_model_of_tu-144.jpg\" width=\"215\" height=\"204\"><br>\n<em>Left: Armstrong laying flowers on Gagarin\u2019s tomb in the Kremlin Wall, as Feoktistov<br>\nand Beregovoi look on. Middle: Armstrong (left) meeting with Kosygin. Right: Tupolev (right)<br>\npresenting Armstrong with a model of the Tu-144.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Possibly the highlight of Armstrong\u2019s trip was his visit on June 1 to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City just outside of Moscow. Valentina V. Tereshkova, the first woman in space, served as his hostess for his visit. Armstrong met other cosmonauts as they showed him the Soyuz flight simulators and other training facilities and presented him with gifts such as a model of the Soyuz 4 and 5 spacecraft docked to each other. Armstrong met the widows of Gagarin, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/remembering-yuri-gagarin-50-years-later\/\">died in an airplane crash<\/a> in 1968, and Vladimir M. Komarov, a cosmonaut who had been killed during the Soyuz 1 accident in 1967. In a later press conference, Armstrong told reporters he had been \u201cmost emotionally moved\u201d by meeting with the two widows. He and Aldrin had left a medallions on the lunar surface in honor of fallen astronauts and cosmonauts, including their husbands. During a reception in the evening, Beregovoi and fellow cosmonaut Pavel R. Popovich presented Armstrong with an engraved hunting rifle from the noted gunsmiths in Tula. Later still, in a smaller event at Beregovoi\u2019s apartment, they showed Armstrong a tape of the launch of Soyuz 9 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier that day. Remarkably, none of his hosts gave even the slightest hint of the impending launch, not even Tereshkova whose husband Andriyan G. Nikolayev was one of the two cosmonauts on board! The old Soviet policy of not announcing space launches until after they occurred could be taken to extremes. In October 1970, Armstrong met Nikolayev and his crewmate Vitali I. Sevastyanov when the two visited the United States, including MSC. Summarizing his meetings with cosmonauts, Armstrong told an audience at the USSR Academy of Sciences, \u201cI have found in my discussions with my Soviet cosmonaut colleagues that their objectives in space are very much the same as ours.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_star_city_w_cosmonauts_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_star_city_w_cosmonauts_1970.jpg\" width=\"372\" height=\"215\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_and_tereshkova_star_city_jun_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_and_tereshkova_star_city_jun_1970.jpg\" width=\"147\" height=\"217\"><br>\n<em>Left: Armstrong (holding flower) with Tereshkova (to his left) and other<br>\ncosmonauts and officials at Star City. Right: Three \u201cfirsts\u201d \u2013 Tereshkova<br>\n(first woman in space) pins a medal on Armstrong (first human to step on the Moon)<br>\nas an image of Gagarin (first human in space) looks on.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_beregovoi_and_popovich_present_armstrong_with_hunting_rifle_star_city\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_beregovoi_and_popovich_present_armstrong_with_hunting_rifle_star_city.jpg\" width=\"143\" height=\"220\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_soyuz_9_launch\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_soyuz_9_launch.jpg\" width=\"182\" height=\"221\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_at_vnukovo_leaving_moscow\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_at_vnukovo_leaving_moscow.jpg\" width=\"221\" height=\"221\"><br>\n<em>Left: Beregovoi (left) and Poppvich present an engraved hunting rifle to<br>\nArmstrong (seated). Middle: Launch of Soyuz 9. Right: Armstrong departing<br>\nthe Soviet Union from Moscow\u2019s Vnukovo Airport.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Postscript:  His tour of the Soviet Union complete, Neil Armstrong boarded a jet at Moscow\u2019s Vnukovo Airport on June 5, destination Rome, Italy, where he met his wife Janet. The next day, Janet christened Alitalia Airlines\u2019 very first Boeing-747 named for her husband. The two then boarded the <em>Neil Armstrong<\/em> and flew from Rome to New York\u2019s John F. Kennedy Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"armstrong_in_russia_alitalia_neil_armstrong_at_jfk_jul_1970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_in_russia_alitalia_neil_armstrong_at_jfk_jul_1970.jpg\" width=\"493\" height=\"328\"><br>\n<em>Alitalia Airlines\u2019 first Boeing-747 named <\/em>Neil Armstrong<em> at New York\u2019s<br>\nJohn F. Kennedy Airport in 1972.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly a year had passed since Neil A. Armstrong made history when he stepped onto the lunar surface. Shortly after returning from their historic mission, Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crewmates Michael Collins and Edwin E. \u201cBuzz\u201d Aldrin took a 38-day around the world Presidential Goodwill Tour, visiting 22 countries. Armstrong announced he had no [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":172281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2671,3451],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[12664,11995],"coauthors":[11996],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"50 Years Ago: Armstrong Visits the Soviet Union","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-armstrong-visits-the-soviet-union\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-armstrong-visits-the-soviet-union\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970.jpg?w=140&h=92&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970.jpg"},"articleSection":"NASA History","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"John Uri"}],"creator":["John Uri"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Humans in Space","Astronauts","Former Astronauts","Neil A. Armstrong","NASA History"],"dateCreated":"2020-05-26T14:51:00Z","datePublished":"2020-05-26T14:51:00Z","dateModified":"2023-08-25T14:08:58Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"50 Years Ago: Armstrong Visits the Soviet Union\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/50-years-ago-armstrong-visits-the-soviet-union\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970.jpg?w=140&h=92&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2020-05-26T14:51:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Humans in Space,Astronauts,Former Astronauts,Neil A. Armstrong,NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"John Uri\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":8,"time_ago":"4 years","featured_image":{"id":172281,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970.jpg","title":"armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970","alt":"armstrong_arrives_at_pulkovo_airport_may_24_1970","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168476"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168476"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":497608,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168476\/revisions\/497608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168476"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=168476"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=168476"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=168476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}