Neil Armstrong was born on August 6, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He began to fly at the age of 16. He received a Navy scholarship to Purdue University in 1947. In 1950, Armstrong began full duty flying Navy fighter jets in the Korean War. He returned to Purdue in 1952. In 1955, he got a degree in aeronautical engineering.

Armstrong joined the NACA (NASA’s predecessor) at Lewis Research Center (now the Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1955, Armstrong was transferred to Edwards Air Force Base in California. In 1962, Armstrong joined the second group of astronauts. This group included the first two civilian astronauts. Armstrong was one of them.

Armstrong’s first mission was Gemini 8. The mission objective was to dock with the Agena booster. This was the first docking in space. While docked, the Agena booster started spinning out of control. This forced NASA to end the mission with an early undocking.

Armstrong’s next mission was Apollo 11. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. and Michael Collins also flew on this mission. It launched on July 16, 1969. On July 20, 1969, three hours after beginning descent onto the Moon, Neil Armstrong announced, "Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed." Then at 10:56 PM EDT, he became the first human to set foot on the Moon. Armstrong made the famous announcement, "That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

In 1971, Armstrong became a professor at the University of Cincinnati. In 1986, he was named Chairman of the Challenger investigation panel. He is now retired.

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