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Neil Alden Armstrong (born August 5, 1930) is an American test pilot, astronaut, and the first person to walk on the Moon.

Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio and served in the Korean War as a jet fighter pilot for the U.S. Navy. He attended Purdue University, where he was a member of a fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1955. Armstrong then became a civilian test pilot for NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA (established 1958) is the government agency responsible for the United States of America's space program and long-term general aerospace research. A civilian organization, it conducts (or oversees) re and piloted the 4,000 mph (6,400 km/h) X-15 rocket plane. Armstrong was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 1962. From 1960 to 1962 he was a pilot involved in the cancelled U.S. Air Force Dyna-Soar orbital glider program.

He commanded Gemini 8, which achieved the first docking of two orbiting spacecraft, in 1966Events January January 1 In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bedel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. January 2 Strike of public transportation workers in New York City ends January 13 January 3 First Acid Test at the Fil, but aborted shortly after docking, because of malfunctioning maneuvering thrusters. He served as commander of the backup crew for the Apollo 8Apollo 8 was a manned mission of the Apollo space program. Apollo 8 was the first mission that carried humans beyond Earth orbit, and the first time anyone was closer to another celestial body than they were to Earth. Crew Frank Borman (2), commander Jame lunar orbital mission in 1968Events Undated Booker Prize for Fiction is established by Booker plc. 1968 is known as the year of the Prague Spring and also the year of the Paris riots. The ASCII character code is standardized as ANSI Standard X3. Nauru adopt his national anthem of the.

In 1969, Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.

He narrowly escaped death during training in the crash of a lunar landing research vehicle ( LLRV) on May 6, 1968 (see List of space disasters.) During the actual mission, he took manual control of the Lunar Module (LM) Eagle and piloted it away from a rocky area to a safe landing. His first words from the Moon were: "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed." Several hours later he climbed out of the LM and became the first person to walk on the Moon, and the first man to flub a scripted line on the moon, with the words,

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

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After retirement from NASA, Armstrong taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He also served on the Presidential commission which investigated the Challenger accident.

He formerly lived in Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio but is presently resident in Indian Hill, Ohio.

There is a small crater on the Moon near the Apollo 11 landing site that is named in his honor.

As a youth, Neil Armstrong attained the rank of Eagle Scout as a member of the Boy Scouts of America.

He also has a TV star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood and Vine.

See also explorers.