Sunday, August 26, 2012

Farewell Mr. Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, poses for his NASA portrait ahead of his historic Apollo 11 mission in July 1969
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon,
poses for his NASA portrait ahead of his historic
Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

Neil Armstrong, the first human ever to walk on the surface of the moon, died Saturday, August 25, at age 82.

Armstrong was catapulted onto the world stage on July 20, 1969, when, as commander of NASA's Apollo 11 mission, he stepped on to the moon's surface for the first time and said words that will forever be remembered: "That is one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

Armstrong died due to complications from recent heart surgery. He was a Navy test pilot before joining NASA's astronaut corps in 1962 and was one of a handful of pilots to fly the X-15 rocket.

"We will never forget that one small step you took so the rest of us could take a giant leap toward the stars."

Information and image source NASA