Hansen said stories of Armstrong dreaming of space exploration as a boy were apocryphal, although he was long dedicated to flight.

MSN: First man on moon Neil Armstrong dead at 82

My boy has more space, my wife has fewer eyerolls, and I get off with a zero dollar fix.

FORBES: Zero Dollar Fix

One might think that a man who dreams of opening up space to the holidaymaking public would have had his imagination fired as a boy by science fiction novels.

BBC: The Moon

Gardner's Maggot Moon is the story of a 15-year-old dyslexic boy living in a dystopian 1950s society whose rulers are intent on winning the space race.

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The films, showing man in space, on the Moon, on Mars, and the "unknown", fascinated the boy Rutan.

BBC: The Moon