Neil Armstrong, who took a small step for man that became a giant leap for humanity, died of cardio-vascular complications on Saturday in Cincinnati, Ohio. Armstrong, aged 82, was the first human being to step on the moon's surface on July 20, 1969.
Armstrong was the commander of Apollo 11, the first mission to land on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first of only twelve men to walk on the lunar surface. Soon after Armstrong stepped off the footpad of the Apollo 11 lunar lander Eagle, he uttered the iconic words "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," which instantly became synonymous with the U.S.' Apollo mission triumph. More than a billion people watched the historical moment on black-and-white television.
Armstrong, shortly after his return from moon, announced that he would never fly in space again. He, however, continued working with NASA for a number of years after Apollo 11.
After retiring from NASA, Armstrong worked as a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati and taught there for eight years.
Armstrong also worked on two spaceflight accident investigations. In 1986, he served as vice chairman of the presidential commission in the investigation of the 1986 Challenger disaster and in 2003, he became a panel member and investigated the loss of the shuttle Columbia.
He was a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Armstrong received several awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, the Sylvanus Thayer Award, the Collier Trophy from the National Aeronautics Association, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal to name a few.
Armstrong is survived by his wife Carol, two sons, a step son and step daughter, 10 grandchildren, a brother, and a sister.
