Biography

Neil Alden Armstrong (born August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012), addressed as Neil Armstrong, was the first person to walk on the moon. He is a celebrated American astronaut and aircraft engineer. 

He was also a navy aviator, a test pilot, and a lecturer at a university.

Neil Armstrong was also an aviator in the Navy, a testing pilot, and a professor at the university. Armstrong was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio, United States.

Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong: History ‧ Bio ‧ Photo
Wiki Facts & About Data
Full Name:	Neil Alden Armstrong
Stage Name:	Neil Armstrong
Born:	5 August 1930 (age 82 years old)
Place of Birth:	Wapakoneta, Ohio, United States
Died:	25 August 2012, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Nationality:	American
Height:	1.8 m
Parents:	Stephen Armstrong, Viola Armstrong
Siblings:	June Armstrong, Dean Armstrong
Wife • Spouse:	Carol Held Knight (m. 1994–2012), Janet Shearon (m. 1956–1994)
Girlfriend • Partner:	N/A
Children:	Karen Armstrong, Mark Armstrong, Rick Armstrong
Occupation:	Astronaut
Net Worth:	US$8 million

Early Life

Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, near Wapakoneta, Ohio, United States.

He was born to Viola Louise (mother) and Stephen Armstrong (father). DNA results showed that he was descended from German, Irish, and Scottish ancestors. 

June Armstrong, his younger sister, and Dean Armstrong, his younger brother, were his siblings. 

Read Also!!

Neil Armstrong‘s father, Stephen Armstrong, worked for the Ohio state government as an auditor, and the family moved throughout the state frequently during the following 14 years, living in 16 different locations.

Career

On January 26, 1949, Neil Armstrong received a call from the Navy, instructing him to report to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida for flying training with class 5-49. On February 24, 1949, he was commissioned as a midshipman after passing the medical examinations. 

He received his flight training aboard a North American SNJ trainer, which he managed to clear on September 9, 1949. On March 2, 1950, he landed on the USS Cabot for the first time, a feat he compared to his maiden solo flight. He was then deployed to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas for Grumman F8F Bearcat training, resulting in a carrier landing aboard the USS Wright.

Neil Armstrong flew 78 flights over Korea for a total of 121 hours. The first one-third occurred in January 1952, and the last on March 5, 1952. On this war trip, 27 of the 492 American navy personnel sailors in the Korean War were from Essex. 

Neil Armstrong was awarded the Air Medal for 20 combat missions, two gold stars for the next 40, the Korean Service Medal with Engagement Star, the National Defense Service Medal, and the UN Korea Medal.

Apollo 11 Mission

While Apollo 8 was orbiting the Moon, Deke Slayton offered Neil Armstrong the position of commander of Apollo 11. On December 23, 1968, while Apollo 8 was orbiting the Moon, Deke Slayton offered him the position of commander of Apollo 11. 

According to Neil Armstrong‘s 2005 memoir, Deke Slayton informed him that, despite the fact that the crew was supposed to be Commander Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, he was granting him the possibility to swap Aldrin with Jim Lovell. 

After a day of deliberation, Neil Armstrong informed Slayton that he would stay with Aldrin because he enjoyed working with him and believed Lovell merited his command. The goal of Apollo 11 was to land safely on the Moon rather than to land at a specific place.

Before leaving the module, the flight plan called for a crew rest period, but Armstrong requested that it be altered to earlier in the evening, Houston time. After landing on the moon successfully, the Eagle was depressurized, the hatch was unlocked, and Neil Armstrong made his way down the ladder when he and Aldrin were ready to step outside. At 02:56 UTC on July 21, 1969, he turned and placed his left boot on the lunar surface, saying, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Buzz Aldrin joined Neil Armstrong on the Moon about 19 minutes after he took his first step, making him the second person to set foot on The moon. They began their investigation on how easy it would be for a person to operate on the moon’s surface. Neil Armstrong dedicated a memorial plaque for the success of the Apollo 11 flight and planted the American flag alongside Aldrin.

Neil Armstrong declared shortly after Apollo 11 that he had no plans to fly in space again. He was named Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics for ARPA’s Office of Advanced Research and Technology. 

He worked for a year until resigning from both the agency and NASA in 1971. He accepted a teaching job in the University of Cincinnati‘s Program of Aerospace Engineering.

Personal Life

After 38 years of marriage, Neil Armstrong and his first wife, Janet Shearon, separated in 1990 and divorced in 1994. Carol Held Knight, his second wife, he met at a golf tournament in 1992 when they were seated next to one other at breakfast. 

She didn’t say much to Neil Armstrong, but he contacted her two weeks later to inquire about her whereabouts. He arrived at her house 35 minutes later to assist her in chopping down a cherry tree after she replied that she was cutting down a cherry tree. 

Read Also!!

On June 12, 1994, they married in Ohio, followed by a second ceremony in San Ysidro Ranch in California. They lived in Indian Hill, Ohio, United States. 

Neil Armstrong died of complications after successful heart surgery in 2012. He left behind two sons and a daughter, and his wife.

Neil Armstrong has two sons: Mark Armstrong and Rick Armstrong, and a daughter named Karen Armstrong.

Net Worth

Conferred with so many honors, Neil Armstrong died having garnered an estimated net worth of US$8 million.