Here’s a detailed history (biography) of Neil Alden Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon. If you want, I can give you a shorter summary too.

 Here’s a detailed history (biography) of Neil Alden Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon. If you want, I can give you a shorter summary too.

Early Life  

• Born: August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, USA. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• Parents: Viola Louise Engel and Stephen Koenig Armstrong; he was the eldest of three children. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• At age 6, he took his first airplane ride, which began his interest in flying. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• He was in Boy Scouts and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• Got his pilot’s license when he was 16 (before he could even legally drive a car). (Neil Armstrong)

Education and Military Service

• Studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University, Indiana. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• His studies were interrupted by the Korean War: he served as a naval aviator and flew 78 combat missions in F9F-2 jets. (Biography)

• He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1955. (Purdue University)

Early Career & NASA

• After college, he worked for NACA (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), which later became NASA. (NASA)

• He served as a research test pilot, flying many aircraft including the X-15 hypersonic plane. (NASA)

Astronaut Career

• Selected in 1962 as part of NASA’s second group of astronauts. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• Gemini 8 (March 1966): Armstrong was command pilot. This mission achieved the first manual docking of two spacecraft in orbit (Gemini 8 with an unmanned Agena). There was a serious problem (a thruster malfunction) which sent the spacecraft into a spin, but Armstrong managed to regain control. (Space)

Apollo 11 & Moon Landing

• Armstrong was Commander of Apollo 11, the mission that landed the first people on the Moon. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• Date of moon landing: July 20, 1969. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• As the Lunar Module “Eagle” landed in the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong stepped onto the moon’s surface at 10:56 pm EDT, saying his famous line: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• Spent about 2.5-3 hours walking on the Moon, collecting samples, doing experiments, taking photos. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

After Apollo

• Resigned from NASA in 1971. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

• Became a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati (1971-1979). (NASA)

• Served on various corporate boards and commissions, including the Presidential Commission investigating the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster in 1986. (NASA)

Awards & Recognition

• Received many honors:

  • Presidential Medal of Freedom (1969) (Encyclopedia Britannica)

  • Congressional Space Medal of Honor (1978) (NASA)

  • Congressional Gold Medal (2009) (Britannica Explore)

• Named as an ICON by Guinness World Records for being the “First man on the Moon.” (Guinness World Records)

Personal Life & Death

• Married Janet Shearon in 1956; had children. (Neil Armstrong)

• Died on August 25, 2012 at age 82, from complications following cardiovascular bypass surgery. (NASA)

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If you like, I can also send you some interesting lesser-known facts about Neil Armstrong. Do you want that?