Mr. Armstrong underwent bypass surgery earlier this month to relieve blocked coronary arteries, in accordance with family and friends. His recovery have been going well, based on those who spoke with him following the surgery, and his death came as being a surprise to many close to him, including his fellow Apollo astronauts.
As commander with the Apollo 11 mission, Mr. Armstrong, with one short sentence on July 20, 1969, became a hero to the millions of people watching back that is known.
The words he spoke upon stepping onto the lunar surface — “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” — were beamed live into homes around the globe, captivating viewers and immediately and indelibly being a symbol of America’s resolve and ingenuity in its race against the Soviet Union for supremacy in space.
It would be a singular achievement for humanity as well as the culmination of your goal that President John F. Kennedy had set eight years earlier along with his bold statement: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, prior to decade is out, of landing a male on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.”
Mr. Armstrong’s family, in a very statement, praised him as being a “loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend.”
“Neil Armstrong has also been a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job,” your family said. “He served his nation proudly, as being a navy fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut.”
Neil Alden Armstrong came to be Aug. 5, 1930, near Wapakoneta, Ohio, and that he would conserve a connection with his home state his entire life.
In 1947, Mr. Armstrong began studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University on the Navy scholarship, according to his official biography. His studies were interrupted in 1949 when he was called to offer in the Korean War, where he flew 78 combat missions. He left the service in 1952, and returned university to finish his degree. He later earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from your University of Southern California.
In 1955, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which later had become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and worked being an engineer, test pilot and administrator. As a test pilot, he flew some in the most innovative and dangerous aircraft ever developed, a lot more than 200 different models. Perhaps the most common of these was the X-15, which reached speeds of four,000 m.p.h., based on his biography around the NASA Web site.
He became an astronaut in 1962 and was the command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission in 1966, when he performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.
Three year later, Mr. Armstrong was 38 yrs . old when he piloted the lunar module on the surface of the moon, a delicate operation that required precise calculations in order that the vehicle landed unscathed.
Along with his co-pilot, Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. from the Air Force, the pair landed inside a rock-strewn plain nearby the southwestern shore from the Sea of Tranquillity. The third astronaut on the mission, Michael Collins, remained inside command ship circling the moon.
The world breathed a collective sigh when Mr. Armstrong was heard telling mission control room, “Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
“Roger, Tranquillity,” mission control replied. “We copy you about the ground. You’ve got a number of guys going to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.”
About six and a half hours after landing, Mr. Armstrong opened the hatch about the four-legged lunar module, slowly made his way along the ladder and planted the initial human footprint on the lunar crust. A crater near the site of the landing was later named as part of his honor.
After leaving the space program, Mr. Armstrong was careful to complete nothing to tarnish that image or achievement. Though he traveled and gave speeches — as with October 2007, when he dedicated the brand new Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue — he rarely gave interviews and avoided the spotlight.
“He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life rather than lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits,” his family said in the statement.
He later found success both in business and academia.
Mr. Armstrong married Carol Knight in 1994, as well as the couple lived in Indian Hill, a Cincinnati suburb. In addition to his wife, he's survived by two sons, Eric and Mark, from his first marriage to Janet Shearon. He also a daughter with Ms. Shearon in 1959, however the girl, Karen, died associated with an inoperable brain tumor in 1962.
Almost right after the news of his death was announced, there is an outpouring of well wishes and fond memorials on Web sites and social networking, a reflection of the extraordinary public acclaim that came to a very private man.
“As almost as much ast Neil cherished his privacy, he always appreciated the expressions of fine will from people around the world and from all walks of life,” his family said. “While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope it serves being an example to young people around the globe to work difficult to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, also to selflessly serve an underlying cause greater than themselves.”
John Schwartz contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
