Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was
born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. He began his NASA career in Ohio.
After serving as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952,
Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in
1955. His first assignment was with the NACA Lewis Research Center (now NASA
Glenn) in Cleveland. Over the next 17 years, he was an engineer, test pilot,
astronaut and administrator for NACA and its successor agency, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
As a research pilot at NASA's Flight Research Center,
Edwards, Calif., he was a project pilot on many pioneering high speed aircraft,
including the well known, 4000-mph X-15. He has flown over 200 different models
of aircraft, including jets, rockets, helicopters and gliders.
Armstrong transferred to astronaut status in 1962. He was
assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. Gemini 8 was launched on
March 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two
vehicles in space.
As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned
lunar landing mission, Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man
to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface.
Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate
Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. In this
position, he was responsible for the coordination and management of overall
NASA research and technology work related to aeronautics.
He was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University
of Cincinnati between 1971-1979. During the years 1982-1992, Armstrong was
chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Charlottesville, Va.
He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical
Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Aerospace
Engineering from the University of Southern California. He holds honorary
doctorates from a number of universities.
I believe that the Good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street.
~ Neil Armstrong
Armstrong is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test
Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical Society; Honorary Fellow of the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the International Astronautics
Federation.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and
the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. He served as a member of the National
Commission on Space (1985-1986), as Vice-Chairman of the Presidential
Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (1986), and as Chairman of
the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Peace Corps (1971-1973).
Armstrong has been decorated by 17 countries. He is the
recipient of many special honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom;
the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; the Explorers Club Medal; the Robert H.
Goddard Memorial Trophy; the NASA Distinguished Service Medal; the Harmon
International Aviation Trophy; the Royal Geographic Society's Gold Medal; the
Federation Aeronautique Internationale's Gold Space Medal; the American
Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award; the Robert J. Collier Trophy; the
AIAA Astronautics Award; the Octave Chanute Award; and the John J. Montgomery
Award.
"This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
