National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John H. Glenn Research Center
Lewis Field
Cleveland, Ohio 44135
On August 5, 1930, Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. This is also where he started his NASA career.
Armstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1955 after serving as a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952. His first job was at the NACA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland – now NASA Glenn. After getting his degree, he worked for NACA and its successor organization, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), for the next 17 years as an engineer, test pilot, astronaut, and administrator.
He worked on several groundbreaking high-speed aircraft as a test pilot at NASA’s Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, including the well-credited 4000-mph X-15. He’s operated more than 200 different aircraft types, including jets, missiles, helicopters, and gliders.
In 1962, Armstrong was promoted to astronaut, credits to his skills. For the Gemini 8 flight, he was assigned as the command pilot. He conducted the first successful docking of two spacecraft in space when Gemini 8 was launched on March 16, 1966.
Armstrong achieved the distinction of becoming the first man to land a craft on the moon and the first man to walk on its surface as the spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission.
He went on to work for NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics. He was in charge of the overall investment, planning, and management of NASA’s aeronautics research and technology work in this capacity.
Between 1971 and 1979, he was a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Armstrong was also the chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc. in Charlottesville, Virginia, from 1982 to 1992.
Purdue University awarded him a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering, and the University of Southern California awarded him a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering. Several universities have awarded him honorary doctorates.
Armstrong was credited as a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, as well as an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the International Astronautics Federation.
He also became a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Moroccan Academy. He served on the National Commission on Space from 1985 to 1986, as Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster from 1986 to 1987, and as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Peace Corps from 1987 to 1989.
Armstrong was credited by 17 nations. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the Explorers Club Medal, the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, the Royal Geographic Society’s Gold Medal, and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale’s Gold Spitfire.
Armstrong died on August 25, 2012, as a result of complications from cardiovascular procedures. He was 82 years old at the time.
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