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Tamim ENC 1101 Ebbinghouse M/W 11am-12:15pm Compare Essay 02/27/2012 A Journey Towards Discovery Throughout history human beings have had an insatiable desire to venture into uncharted territories and discover the unknown. There are countless examples of historic and modern figures and their quest toward knowledge of the unseen. Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong were two of the greatest figures in history that paved the way toward discovering new territories that had not been so vastly known by men before. They were both scientific explorers and supporters of knowledge and discovery. Their contributions in the fields of scientific discovery is widely known and considered to be a mile stone for new generations. They were both explorers, travelled great distances and were the first of their generation to discover a new place that was not well known to man. Although they were from different time and their journeys involved different means of travel and their quests were the same, discovering new places. Neil Armstrong, as a young man was interested in planes and later on became a pilot for the Air force. He traveled to many places around the world, as Columbus did in his early life. Armstrong was backed and funded by NASA, where they trained him extensively for what was to come in space. Columbus was also funded by the government, but was not trained, he used his skills he learned throughout his life. Columbus had the goal of a better trade route to Asia for better business which meant more profits and more money. Armstrong and his crew had the goal of national prestige for America. Armstrong had two trips to space, not knowing what it would be like or what he would find, but Columbus had four journeys across the Atlantic. The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were the ships used for Columbuss voyage across the Atlantic. Columbus himself sailed on the Santa Maria which was the largest of the three. The Nina and Pinta were smaler but much faster than the Santa Maria. They carried about one hundred and twenty men, loaded with equipment and supllies, and armed for batle. Columbus wanted to find a new passage to Asia from Spain, but ended up on and island they named San Salvador, in the Bahamas. Apollo 11 was the space flight that Neil Armstrong  comanded that would land the first humans on the moon. They carried equipment and supplies to help them with thier journey, but unlike Columbuss ships, Apollo 11 was not armed for battle, and only carried three men, instead of onehundred and twenty men. The Spaceship was fueld by rocket boosters, where Columbuss ships used wind in the ships sales to move the ship. Neil Armstrong, along with America was in a competition to beat the Soviet Union to space and be the first humans on the moon. He risked his life on a four day trip to be the first man on the moon, and bring pride to his country. He risked having his spacecraft malfunction, lossing communication with earth, and running out of fuel, resulting in a mission falure. But he had new technologies to help the mission go smother such as new compouter software, freeze dried food, and new spacesuits. Christopher Columbus was in a race against other European countries and Portugal to find a new traiding route to Asia that took a total of about thirty seven days to even see land. Columbus risked the lives of his crew and himslef on rough sea waters, and enemeys attacking his ships. He also took the risk of bringing back nothing to show for his voyage such as riches or an amazing discovery. To help with Columbuss journey, he had new ships that were made specificly for him that combined sqaure european sails with Arab triangle sails. He also had new intruments that would help with dtermining latitude at sea. But unlike Armstrong, Columbus had no map and was unaware of where he was going. Armstrong coud look up in the night sky and see where he was going. Both Armstong and Columbus had very long and dangerous journeys were they risked their lives to better their countries, and no one had ever attempted to do what they did. Columbus dreamed of a round earth but could never actualy see it, Armstrong got to see the round earth with an amazing view from the moon. During the time of Columbus, exploration was a very dangerous bussiness. Disease, war, and the unknowing of what to expect were factors that made exploring very dangerous. Crews had little to no education, paid poorly, and could take no credit for any discovories that were made. Armstong and his crew were heavily educated unlike columbuss crew, and were ready for a very  dangerous mission as colombus was for his mission across the Atlantic. Although Armstrong was captain of Apollo 11, his crew had an equal part in the moon landing, they were a team, and all were honord with credit for the moon landing. Columbus took the credit for discovoring the new world, but his crew did all of the work to get him to the new world. Without Colombus accidentily discoving the new world, Niel Armstrong may not of been the first man on the moon. Both these men were risk takers, but also very influential explorers who risked thier lives to go into the unknown and seek fame. One was a captian and team player with a crew of three, and the other was captian of one hundred and twenty men who worked as a solo explorer. These explorations of Neil Armstrong and Christopher Columbus help change and shape the world we live in today.