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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSWho Is Neil Armstrong? tells the life story of the boy from small-town Wapakoneta, Ohio, who grew up to become the first person to walk on the moon. From his very first plane ride at age six aboard a craft called the Tin Goose, Neil was hooked on flying. He took part-time jobs as a teenager just to pay for flying lessons, earned his pilot's license at fifteen, flew combat missions in Korea, and eventually became a test pilot pushing experimental aircraft to the edge of space. By the time NASA comes calling, readers have watched a quiet, determined kid grow step by step toward one of the most famous moments in human history.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Who Is Neil Armstrong?
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Who Is Neil Armstrong?. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a teenage boy mow lawns at a cemetery to pay for flying lessons?
✓ Answer
Who Is Neil Armstrong? by Roberta Edwards
To earn money for flying lessons, Neil Armstrong took on whatever work he could find, including mowing lawns at a local cemetery. Every dollar he earned went toward lessons at the nearby Port Koneta airfield.
- First half
In what book does a grieving father never speak of his daughter's death, not then or ever?
✓ Answer
Who Is Neil Armstrong? by Roberta Edwards
After his daughter Muffie died in January of 1962, Neil Armstrong dealt with the tragedy entirely in private. He never spoke about her death, and new friends often didn't even realize he had once had a daughter.
- First half
In what book does a NASA rocket get only four inches off the ground during a failed launch attempt?
✓ Answer
Who Is Neil Armstrong? by Roberta Edwards
In the early days of the U.S. space program, NASA suffered many embarrassing failures trying to launch a spacecraft into orbit. One rocket rose only four inches off the ground, a stark contrast to the Soviet Union's successful Sputnik launches.
- Second half
In what book is a faulty small rocket engine, not a pilot's mistake, blamed for a mission ending early?
✓ Answer
Who Is Neil Armstrong? by Roberta Edwards
After the Gemini 8 mission ended early because of violent uncontrolled spinning, Neil Armstrong feared he had made a mistake. He was very depressed about cutting the mission short. An investigation later determined the real cause was a faulty thruster, a small rocket engine that provides forward motion, clearing Armstrong of any blame.
- Second half
In what book do engineers deliberately cause errors during training to test an astronaut crew's skills?
✓ Answer
Who Is Neil Armstrong? by Roberta Edwards
NASA engineers in Texas sometimes purposely introduced errors into the Apollo 11 crew's training simulations to test how Neil, Buzz, and Michael would handle unexpected problems. The astronauts had to be ready to respond on their own if anything went wrong during the actual mission.
- Near the end
In what book are wires hidden in a flag to keep it from hanging limp?
✓ Answer
Who Is Neil Armstrong? by Roberta Edwards
When the Apollo 11 astronauts planted the American flag on the moon, they used hidden wires to make it look as if it were flying in a breeze. Without the wires, the flag would have hung completely limp because there is no wind on the moon.
