Armstrong, Neil Alden (1930– )

US astronaut. On 20 July 1969, he became the first person to set foot on the Moon and made his now famous remark, ‘That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ The Moon landing was part of the Apollo project.

He joined the US National Aerospace Program in 1962, and commanded Gemini 8 in March 1966, linking with an uncrewed Agena rocket. With Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in Apollo 11 on 16 July 1969, he lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to land four days later on the Moon. The mission collected soil samples, explored, and set up scientific instruments during 22 hours on the lunar surface.

Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong gained his pilot's licence at 16, studied aeronautics at Purdue University, Indiana, and served as a US naval pilot in Korea in 1949–52 before joining NASA as a test pilot. Armstrong was professor of aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, between 1971 and 1981, and then became chair of the aerospace company CTA, Inc.