Niel Armstrong

ARMSTRONG, Neil Alden (1930– ), American astronaut, born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He served as a pilot in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. After graduating (1955) from Purdue University, he joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, then known as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, serving as a civilian test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, Lancaster, Calif. In (1962) he became the first civilian to enter the astronaut-training program. In March (1966), Armstrong was command pilot of the Gemini 8 mission, which accomplished the first physical joining of two orbiting spacecraft. In July (1969), Armstrong, as commander of the Apollo 11 lunar mission, became the first person to set foot on the moon. His companions on the mission were Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. In (1971) be became professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Following the fatal explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January (1986), Armstrong was appointed deputy chief of the presidential commission set up to investigate the disaster.