Neil Armstrong, (born Aug. 5, 1930, Wapakoneta, Ohio, U.S.—died Aug. 25, 2012, Cincinnati, Ohio), U.S. astronaut. He became a pilot at age 16, studied aeronautical engineering, and won three Air Medals in the Korean War. In 1955 he became a civilian research pilot for the forerunner of NASA. He joined the space program in 1962 with the second group of astronauts. In 1966, as command pilot of Gemini 8, he and David Scott completed the first manual space docking maneuver, with an unmanned Agena rocket. On July 20, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission, he became the first person to step onto the Moon, proclaiming “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong summary
Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Neil Armstrong.
Apollo Summary
Apollo, project conducted by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s and ’70s that landed the first humans on the Moon. All told, 24 Apollo astronauts visited the Moon and 12 of them walked on its surface. Additional NASA astronauts are scheduled to return to the
astronaut Summary
Astronaut, designation, derived from the Greek words for “star” and “sailor,” commonly applied to an individual who has flown in outer space. More specifically, in the West, astronaut refers to those from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan who travel into space. Those Soviet and later
Moon Summary
Moon, Earth’s sole natural satellite and nearest large celestial body. Known since prehistoric times, it is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun. It is designated by the symbol ☽. Its name in English, like that of Earth, is of Germanic and Old English derivation. The Moon’s desolate beauty
space exploration Summary
Space exploration, investigation, by means of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, of the reaches of the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere and the use of the information so gained to increase knowledge of the cosmos and benefit humanity. A complete list of all crewed spaceflights, with details on each
