Watching Neil Armstrong on moon inspired me, says only Londoner to have flown a space shuttle

Boy from Ruislip was enthralled by moon shot… and went on to be an astronaut
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The only Londoner to have flown a space shuttle today told how watching Neil Armstrong on the moon inspired his dream of becoming an astronaut.

Gregory H Johnson left London as a child and became a US Air Force colonel, flying an F-15 in the Gulf War before being picked from 3,000 applicants to fly two Nasa missions on Endeavour, in 2008 and 2011.

The astronaut, originally from South Ruislip, spoke to the Standard en route to speak at 50th anniversary celebrations of the lunar landing in Armstrong’s home town in Ohio.

He said: “The 50th anniversary is really important to me — when I was seven years old I watched the first lunar landing, that’s when the seed was planted with me as a dream of becoming an astronaut. Neil Armstrong was probably my number one inspiration after my parents.”

Mr Johnson, 57, described the drama of blast-off from Kennedy Space Centre before reaching the tranquillity of space in the 36-hour journey to the International Space Station: “The launch is really violent and crazy for about eight-and-a-half minutes. But after main engine cut off, and we’re stabilised at 17,500mph, I started laughing because you’re just floating.”

Docking with the ISS, which orbits Earth about 15 times daily, is the most delicate parking operation, crawling in at two inches per second in the last 30ft.

ISS is a modular space station which started being built in 1998, with a multinational crew conducting experiments and adding pieces to the structure. Endeavour carried space station and laboratory parts in the back and “passengers” in the front.

Mr Johnson worked with crewmates to extend the ISS. Of life on board, he said: “With our beautiful planet in the background and floating at zero gravity, it was always a distraction, always amazing.”

He now works on US-Finnish firm Space Nation’s astronaut training programme, and for the US-based Newton’s Road organisation which helps young people work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

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