Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was the first person to walk
on the Moon, as well as an American astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor and United States Naval
Aviator.
Armstrong landed on the moon July 20, 1969 by taking the
Apollo 11 spacecraft and is best remembered for saying: "That's one small
step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Armstrong and fellow American astronaut Buzz Aldrin spent two
and a half hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting
experiments and taking photographs, while astronaut Michael Collins remained in
orbit in the command module.
Neil Alden Armstrong was born on Aug. 5, 1930, in the small town of
Wapakoneta, Ohio, to Stephen Armstrong and the former Viola Louise Engel. His
father was a state auditor, which meant the family moved every few years to a
new Ohio town while Neil was growing up. At the age of 6, Neil and his father
took a ride in a Ford Trimotor airplane, known as the Tin Goose. It must have
made an impression, for by the time he was 15, he had learned to fly, even
before he got his driver’s license.
Neil became an Eagle Scout
when the family later moved back to Wapakoneta, where he finished high school.
(The town now has a museum named for Mr. Armstrong.) From there, he went to
Purdue University as an engineering student on a Navy scholarship. His college
years were interrupted by the Korean War, in which Mr. Armstrong was a Navy
fighter pilot who flew 78 combat missions, one in which he was forced to eject
after the plane lost one of its ailerons, the hinged flight-control panels on
the wings.
Later on, Armstrong chose to avoid the public limelight and
lead an intensely private life. He resigned from NASA in 1971 to take up
teaching engineering at the University of Cincinnati for several years.
