Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong obtained his private pilot's license at the age of 16 in 1946. He served as a Navy aviator from 1949 to 1952, flying 72 combat missions during the Korean War, where he was shot down once and received three air medals. In 1955, he transitioned to an aeronautical research pilot role before being selected for astronaut training on September 16, 1962. As backup command pilot for the Gemini space shot on March 16, 1966, he executed the first manual space docking. In May 1968, he safely parachuted from 12,000 feet after his jet trainer crashed. Armstrong was a crewman on the Apollo 11 mission, which launched on July 16, 1969. Four days later, on July 20, 1969, at 10:56 PM EDT, he made history by becoming the first human to step onto the lunar surface, famously stating, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." He was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City upon his return on August 13, 1969. After leaving NASA in 1971, Armstrong became a professor of aeronautical engineering until January 1980. He subsequently maintained a semi-retired lifestyle, managing a cattle farm in Ohio, flying his own plane, and serving on various corporate boards, including as Chairman of the Board of Computing Technologies for Aviation. He married in January 1956 and had a son, Eric, in 1957, and a daughter, Karen, in 1959. Armstrong underwent surgery for blocked coronary arteries on August 7, 2012, and passed away on August 25, 2012, due to complications from the procedure.