Portal:Spaceflight/Selected biography/5

Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930–25 August, 2012) was an American astronaut, test pilot, university professor, and United States Naval Aviator. He is the first person to set foot on the Moon. After serving as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952 in the Korean War, Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1955. 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, Armstrong served as project pilot on the F-100 Super Sabre A and C aircraft, F-101 Voodoo, and the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. His first spaceflight was aboard Gemini 8 in 1966, for which he was the command pilot. On this mission, he performed the first manned docking of two spacecraft together with pilot David Scott. Armstrong's second and last spaceflight was as mission commander of the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission on July 20, 1969. On this mission, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface and spent 2½ hours exploring making him the first human to walk on the Moon, while Michael Collins remained in orbit in the Command Module. Armstrong is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.