Neil Armstrong. The Legacy For Mankind

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, U.S. Navy pilot, test pilot, and university professor. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was a United States Navy officer and served in the Korean War. After the war, he served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Station, now known as the Dryden Flight Research Center, where he logged over 900 flights. He graduated from Purdue University and completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California.

Neil Armstrong Tribute by 12frames

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. His first spaceflight was the NASA Gemini 8 mission in 1966, for which he was the command pilot, becoming one of the first U.S. civilians in space. On this mission, he performed the first manned docking of two spacecraft with pilot David Scott. Armstrong’s second and last spaceflight was as mission commander of the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969. On this mission, Armstrong andBuzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface and spent 2½ hours exploring, while Michael Collins remained in orbit in the Command Module. Armstrong was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon along with Collins and Aldrin, the Congressional Space Medal of Honorby President Jimmy Carter in 1978, and the Congressional Gold Medal with his former crewmates in 2009. Armstrong died in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 25, 2012 at the age of 82 due to complications from blocked coronary arteries.

CNN about Neil: What was, in retrospect, most heroic about Neil Alden Armstrong, who died Saturday at age 82, was the manner in which he shied away from the spoils and trappings of heroism itself. August 26, 2012|By Gene Seymour, Special to CNN

This picture taken on July 10, 1979 in Paris, France, shows former astronaut Neil Armstrong, during the recording of a television show.(Pierre Guillaud/AFP/Getty Images)

Neil Armstrong, photographer, appears reflected in the visor of Buzz Aldrin, near the leg of the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA), on July 20, 1969. (NASA)

New Yorkers line 42nd Street to cheer Apollo 11 astronauts, on August 13, 1969. In the lead car from left are: Edwin Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong, who return the greeting with waves. (AP Photo/STF)

Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, waves to the crowd during a ticker tape parade up lower Broadway in New York, on August 13, 1969. (AP Photo/ETA)

Close-up of Astronaut’s Footprint on Lunar Surface

Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface. As he stepped off the LM, Armstrong proclaimed “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”

sources: wikipedia  InFocus

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