Neil Armstrong, American astronaut and aeronautical engineer, 1930-2012

Armstrong made his first spaceflight as command pilot of Gemini 8 in March 1966, becoming NASA's first civilian astronaut to fly in space. During training for his second and last spaceflight as commander of Apollo 11, he had to eject from the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle moments before a crash. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin became the first people to land on the Moon, and the next day they spent two and a half hours outside the spacecraft. When Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface, he famously said: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind". He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.