First Man 🎥 2018 Movie Info

Plot Summary

In 1961, NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong is flying the X-15 rocket-powered spaceplane when it unexpectedly bounces off the atmosphere when Armstrong attempts his initial descent. Although he manages to land the plane in the Mojave Desert, his colleagues express concern that his recent record of mishaps is due to distraction. His 2-year-old daughter, Karen, is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. Desperate to save her, Neil keeps a detailed log of her symptoms and researches possible treatments, but she dies soon afterward. Grief-stricken and suspecting he has been grounded, Armstrong applies for Project Gemini and is accepted to NASA Astronaut Group 2.

With his wife Janet, and their son Rick, Neil moves to Houston alongside other astronaut families. He befriends Elliot See, another civilian test pilot, and Ed White. As Armstrong begins training, Deke Slayton impresses upon the new astronauts the importance of the Gemini program, as the Soviet Union had reached every milestone in the Space Race ahead of the United States. Neil and Janet have a second son, Mark. In 1965, after the Soviets complete the first extravehicular activity, Armstrong is informed that he will command Gemini 8, with David Scott as the pilot. Prior to the mission, See and Charles Bassett are killed in a T-38 crash, deepening Armstrong’s grief at the string of recent losses.

Armstrong and Scott successfully launch on Gemini 8 and dock with the Agena target vehicle, but soon afterward, a malfunction causes the spacecraft to roll at an increasingly dangerous rate. After nearly blacking out, Armstrong activates the RCS thrusters and safely aborts the mission. He initially faces criticism, but NASA determines the crew is not at fault and the mission is rated a “success”. Later, White reveals that he has been selected for the Apollo 1 mission, along with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee.

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