Born in 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong

Neil Armstrong was the American astronaut who on July 20, 1969, became the first human being to set foot on the Moon. Born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, he developed a passion for aviation early, earning his pilot's license at sixteen before he could drive a car.

He studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University but interrupted his studies to serve as a Navy pilot in the Korean War, flying seventy-eight combat missions. After returning he completed his degree and later earned a master's in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He joined NACA, later NASA, as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, flying experimental aircraft including the X-15 rocket plane to altitudes above sixty kilometres.

In 1962 NASA selected him as an astronaut. His first spaceflight came in 1966 aboard Gemini 8, during which a thruster malfunction sent the craft into a violent spin. Armstrong's calm activation of the reentry system saved the crew and demonstrated the composure that later defined his career.

On July 16, 1969, Armstrong launched with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins aboard Apollo 11. Four days later, as the lunar module Eagle descended, Armstrong saw the planned landing site was strewn with boulders. He took manual control and, with only twenty-five seconds of fuel remaining, guided the craft to a safe spot. Stepping onto the surface before an audience of six hundred million, he spoke the words that entered history.

After the mission Armstrong shunned celebrity. He left NASA in 1971 to teach aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He rarely gave interviews and consistently described the landing as a team achievement of four hundred thousand people, not a personal triumph. He died on August 25, 2012, from complications after heart surgery. His ashes were scattered at sea.