UFPR 2013

Neil Armstrong, US astronaut, dies aged 82

Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month to relieve blocked coronary arteries.

As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon, hours after Apollo's Eagle lunar module had touched down on July 20 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic statement: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". He then spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.

Praising Armstrong his family said in a statement on Saturday: “Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut". The statement also said that he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, at the age of 82.

Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. On July 20, 1936, when he was 6, he experienced his first airplane flight in Warren, Ohio, when he and his father Stephen, an auditor for the Ohio state government, took a ride in a Ford Trimotor, a three-engined transport plane that was also known as the "Tin Goose".

After serving as a naval pilot from 1949 to 1952, and serving in the Korean War, Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) – the precursor to NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration – in 1955. As a research pilot at NASA's Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., he was a project pilot on many pioneering high speed aircraft, including the well-known, 4000-mph X-15.

Armstrong joined the NASA astronaut corps in 1962. He was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. Gemini 8 was launched on March 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successful manned docking of two vehicles in space. His second and last spaceflight was as mission commander for the Apollo 11 moon landing.

After commanding the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters, in Washington D.C. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination and management of overall NASA research and technology work related to aeronautics. He was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati between 1971-1979.

Armstrong and his wife, Carol, married in 1999, made their home in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill, but he had largely stayed out of public view in recent years. He spoke at Ohio State University during a February event honouring fellow astronaut John Glenn and the 50th anniversary of Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth.

(Adapted from and )