Neil A. Armstrong joined NACA as a search pilot at the Louis Laboratory in Cleveland and later transferred to the NACA High Speed Flight Station at Edwards AFB, California. He was a project pilot on many pioneering high speed Aircraft, including the 4,000 M.P.H. X-15. He has flown over 200 different modules of aircraft, including jets, rockets, helicopters, and gliders. In 1962 to astronaut status. In 1969, Armstrong was commander of Apollo 11, the first manned lunar mission, and gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and the first man to step on its surface.