This T-square was owned by Neil A. Armstrong. A T-square is a ruler with a short crosspiece that slides along the edge of a drawing board. Often used as an aid in mechanical drawing, the T-square is especially useful for making parallel lines and right angles. Armstrong, as an engineer, would have made frequent use of a T-square.
As Commander of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, became the first person to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Prior to joining NASA, Armstrong served as a naval aviator during the Korean War, flying 78 combat missions. After graduating with a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1955, Armstrong became a test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, the forerunner to NASA) and flew over 200 different models of aircraft, including the X-15. Armstrong was selected for NASA’s astronaut corps in 1962 as part of the second class selection, and first flew in space as commander of Gemini VIII in 1966.
Shortly after his historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, Armstrong earned an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California, and when he left NASA in 1971, he taught at the University of Cincinnati for eight years. In 1986, he was appointed by President Reagan as the Vice-Chairman of the Rogers Commission investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In his later life, he served on several corporate boards and high-level advisory committees.
Carol Armstrong and the Armstrong family loaned the T-square to the Museum in 2014.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.