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Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong
Photo of Neil Armstrong, July 1969, in space suit with the helmet off
Armstrong in July 1969
Neil Armstrong Signature.svg
USAF / NASA astronaut
Born Neil Alden Armstrong
(1930-08-05)August 5, 1930
Near Wapakoneta, Ohio, U.S.
Died August 25, 2012(2012-08-25) (aged 82)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Previous occupation
Naval aviator, test pilot
Purdue University, B.S. 1955
University of Southern California, M.S. 1970
Rank Lieutenant (junior grade), United States Navy
Time in space
8 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds
Selection 1958 USAF Man In Space Soonest
1960 USAF Dyna-Soar
1962 NASA Group 2
Total EVAs
1
Total EVA time
2 hours 31 minutes
Missions Gemini 8, Apollo 11
Mission insignia
Ge08Patch orig.png Apollo 11 insignia.png
Awards United States Naval Aviator/Astronaut Insignia NASA Civilian Astronaut Wings Presidential Medal of Freedom Congressional Space Medal of Honor

Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was an officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War. After the war, he earned his bachelor's degree at Purdue University and served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station, where he logged over 900 flights. He later completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California.

A participant in the U.S. Air Force's Man in Space Soonest and X-20 Dyna-Soar human spaceflight programs, Armstrong joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1962. He made his first space flight as command pilot of Gemini 8 in March 1966, becoming NASA's first civilian astronaut to fly in space. He performed the first docking of two spacecraft, with pilot David Scott. This mission was aborted after Armstrong used some of his reentry control fuel to prevent a dangerous spin caused by a stuck thruster, in the first in-flight space emergency.


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Wikipedia

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