Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer and NASA astronaut. In 1966 he commanded Gemini 8, which made the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit. He commanded Apollo 11, and on July 20, 1969 he became the first person to walk on the Moon, with Buzz Aldrin. Michael Collins orbited above. Armstrong later taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati and served on the commission that investigated the Challenger disaster. He died in August 2012, aged 82.

Born: 5 August 1930
Died: 25 August 2012
Country: United States
Flights: 2: Gemini 8 (1966), Apollo 11 (1969)
Time in space: 8 days 14 hours

Data as of 2 November 2026. Source: Wikidata (CC0). All people who have flown in space.

Events

16 July 1969

Apollo 11
- Apollo spacecraft, Saturn V
- Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins
Apollo 11 was NASA's first attempt to land people on the Moon, and it worked. The Saturn V that launched it, the lunar module that landed and the command module that came home were the full stack of the Apollo programme, flown by a crew of three.
4 videos
- Vox
- Primal Space
- Progress – Science Documentaries