Neil Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong (born August 5, 1930) is an American test pilot, astronaut, and the first person to walk on the Moon.

Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio and served in the Korean War as a jet fighter pilot. He attended Purdue University, where he was a member of a fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1955. Armstrong then became a civilian test pilot for NASA and piloted the 4,000 /A> (6,400 km/../north-american-x-15.html" title="North American X-15">X-15NASA1962Gemini1966Apollo1968Apollo 11Lunar Module and piloted it away from a rocky area to a safe landing. His first words from the Moon were, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed." Several hours later he climbed out of the LM and became the first person to walk on the Moon, and the first man to flub a scripted line on the moon, with the words,

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (He had intended to say "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.")

(hear original audio [1] - .wav 260 kb)

After retirement from NASA he taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He served on the Presidential commission which investigated the Challenger accident.

See also explorers.

External links

• Wikiquote - Quotes by Neil Armstrong
• NASA webpage on Apollo 11 mission
• Mini biography
• Snopes' site on the actual first words from the moon's surface