Former US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said Saturday. 
 
 Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days after his birthday on August 5, to relieve blocked coronary arteries. 
 
 As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the dusty surface, Armstrong said: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind." 
 
 Those words endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language. 
 
 Neil Alden Armstrong was 38 years old at the time, and even though he had fulfilled one of mankind's quests that had loomed for centuries and placed him at the pinnacle of human achievement, he did not revel in his accomplishment. He even seemed frustrated by the acclaim it brought. 
 
 "I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks but for the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's 60 Minutes program in 2005. 
 
 He once was asked how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on the moon's surface for thousands of years. "I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," he said. 
 
 James Hansen, author of First Man: The Life of Neil A Armstrong, told CBS: "All of the attention that ... the public put on stepping down that ladder onto the surface itself, Neil never could really understand why there was so much focus on that." 
 
 The Apollo 11 moon mission turned out to be Armstrong's last space flight. The next year he was appointed to a desk job, being named Nasa's deputy associate administrator for aeronautics in the office of advanced research and technology. 
 
 Armstrong's post-Nasa life was a very private one. He took no major role in ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the moon landing. "He's a recluse's recluse," said Dave Garrett, a former NASA spokesman. "Howard Hughes had nothing on him," he said, speaking of the reclusive aviator. 
 
 Hansen said stories of Armstrong dreaming of space exploration as a boy were apocryphal, although he was long dedicated to flight. "His life was about flying. His life was about piloting," Hansen said. 
 
 He left NASA a year after Apollo 11 to become a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati. 
 
 The former astronaut lived in the Cincinnati area with his wife, Carol. 
 
 "We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures," the family said in a statement. "Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. ||||| Neil Armstrong was a NASA astronaut most famous for being the first person to walk on the moon, on July 20, 1969. An accomplished test pilot, Armstrong also flew on the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. He retired from NASA in 1971 and remained active in the aerospace community, although he chose to keep mostly out of the public spotlight. Armstrong died Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. 
 
 Armstrong was famously reticent about his accomplishments, preferring to focus on the team that helped him get to the moon rather than his own first steps. "I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" program in 2005, according to Reuters. 
 
 In another interview, when asked what it feels like to have his footprints remain on the moon's surface for thousands of years, Armstrong said, "I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," Reuters added. 
 
 An official biography of Armstrong was published in 2005, called "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong." It was written by James R. Hansen, a former NASA historian and later a history professor at Auburn University. 
 
 Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on Aug. 5, 1930. His parents were Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel. Armstrong was a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952 and served in the Korean War. Armstrong got a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in 1955; much later (after he became world-famous) he received a master of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 1970. As a NASA test pilot, Armstrong flew the X-15, a rocket-powered, missile-shaped aircraft that tested the limits of high-altitude flight. He flew more than 200 different aircraft, from jets to gliders and even helicopters. NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong is seen here next to the X-15 ship #1 after a research flight. Credit: NASA 
 
 In 1962, Armstrong was selected with NASA's second group of astronauts, who flew on the two-seat Gemini missions to test out space technology, and the three-seat Apollo missions that ultimately took 12 people to the surface of the moon. Armstrong's first flight was the command pilot of the Gemini 8 mission in March 1966, the sixth crewed mission of that series. 
 
 Armstrong and pilot David Scott did the first orbital docking of two spacecraft, joining their Gemini 8 spacecraft to an uncrewed Agena target vehicle. However, the mission quickly turned into an emergency situation when a thruster on the Gemini 8 spacecraft was stuck open. With the astronauts whipping around faster than one revolution per second, Armstrong managed to gain control again by using the re-entry system thrusters. The mission — the first serious emergency in space — ultimately ended safely, but splashed down early because the re-entry system was used. 
 
 Armstrong narrowly avoided a nasty accident in May 1968 while using the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, a machine that could fly somewhat like a lunar module and simulate landings on the moon. Fuel for his thrusters ran out and Armstrong was forced to eject just seconds before the vehicle crashed. Armstrong escaped unharmed. 
 
 The first public announcement NASA made about the Apollo 11 crew's selection was in January 1969, but chief astronaut Deke Slayton had made the decision several weeks earlier. Slayton chose an all-veteran team of Neil Armstrong (Gemini 8), Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (Gemini 12) and Michael Collins (Gemini 10). Armstrong was tapped to command the mission. His responsibilities included landing on the moon alongside Aldrin, the pilot of the lunar module Eagle. Collins would remain in lunar orbit aboard the command module Columbia. (Collins was originally supposed to be backup pilot for Apollo 11, but his spot in the flight sequence was moved after required surgery on his back forced him off the prime crew for Apollo 8.) 
 
 The crew was not fully certain they would be the first on the moon; NASA had a tight sequence of missions happening every few months, and all mission objectives needed to be accomplished for each one to get Apollo 11 to the moon in time. Missions before Apollo 11 included the first crewed trip around the moon (Apollo 8, December 1968), the first test of the lunar module in space (Apollo 9, March 1969) and the first simulated lunar landing (Apollo 10, May 1969). 
 
 However, the crewmembers were cognizant that their trip was planned to be the first landing, and designed their mission patch with that in mind. It featured an eagle holding an olive branch in its talons; the crew also left their names off of the mission patch to make the mission more representative of humans in general, according to Collins' book "Carrying the Fire" (1974). 
 
 Apollo 11 lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral in sight of vast crowds of people who camped there to watch the launch on July 16, 1969. The crew journeyed to the moon for four days, achieved lunar orbit, and separated the two spacecraft on July 20. 
 
 As the crew descended to the surface, they could see landmarks below passing by several seconds early, and they reported to Mission Control that they would be several miles away from their planned landing area. Subsequently, the Eagle's computer displayed several program alarms due to the computer being "overloaded" with tasks and needing to restart. Mission Control guidance officer Steve Bales (with assistance from computer engineer Jack Garman) told the crew they were okay to go to the surface. (Much later, an investigation found the computer was overloaded because a rendezvous radar switch was in the wrong position, sending signals in error to the computer.) 
 
 Armstrong took over the landing himself when he saw that the computer was guiding them to a boulder-filled landing zone. Landing was achieved at 4:14 p.m. EDT (2014 GMT) with only 25 seconds of fuel left. Armstrong announced, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Capsule communicator and astronaut Charles Duke responded from Earth: "Roger … Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot." 
 
 The schedule called for the astronauts to sleep before the first moonwalk, but they elected to go outside early because they felt they would not be able to sleep. In view of a black-and-white television camera transmitting his movements live to Earth, Armstrong descended Eagle's lander and touched his left foot upon the surface at 10:56 p.m. EDT July 20 (0256 GMT July 21). His first words were "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." (The "a" was lost to radio static, but later analysis of the sound wave showed that Armstrong did say it.) 
 
 Armstrong and Aldrin together explored the surface during a moonwalk that lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes. They collected 48.5 pounds (22 kilograms) of material from the surface —including 50 moon rocks — as well as deploying experiments, planting the U.S. flag and taking a moment to speak with then-U.S. president Richard Nixon. The Eagle's crew lifted off safely from the moon on July 21, docked with Columbia, and voyaged back to Earth for a successful ocean landing on July 24. The astronauts went into quarantine to mitigate the (unlikely) risk that they were carrying some sort of moon germs back with them, and then embarked on a world tour to celebrate the mission. 
 
 After his time as an astronaut, Armstrong was deputy associate administrator for Aeronautics at NASA headquarters. He resigned from NASA in 1971. Subsequently, from 1971 to 1979, he was professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. From 1982 to 1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., in Charlottesville, Va. Armstrong also participated in the Rogers Commission, which was a presidential commission tasked to look at the causes and events of the fatal Challenger shuttle explosion of Jan. 28, 1986, that killed seven astronauts. 
 
 Armstrong chose to mostly stay out of the spotlight after leaving NASA, although he did reappear periodically for interviews or for anniversary events concerning Apollo 11. While his public statements were few, he did follow spaceflight news of his day and occasionally made comments on what was happening. He remained a vocal supporter of suborbital spaceflight. On the other hand, the former Apollo astronaut was publicly critical of plans to shift the crewed spaceflight from NASA to private spacecraft. 
 
 On Aug. 7, 2012 —two days after Armstrong turned 82 years old — the famed moonwalker underwent coronary bypass surgery. Complications from that surgery resulted in his death Aug. 25. 
 
 "Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend," his family wrote on the website neilarmstronginfo.com. "For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request," they added. "Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink." 
 
 Tributes poured in from many public figures, including then-U.S. president Barack Obama, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, then-NASA administrator Charles Bolden, Apollo 11 crewmates Aldrin and Collins, and various space representatives in the public, private and not-for-profit spheres. 
 
 "Neil was among the greatest of American heroes — not just of his time, but of all time," Obama's statement read in part. "When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible." 
 
 A private memorial service for Armstrong was held Aug. 31, 2012, at the Camargo Club in Cincinnati. ) Two weeks later, a publicly televised memorial service was held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. 
 
 Armstrong was buried at sea Sept. 14, 2012, in a ceremony aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea. Armstrong's family was on board when the ship left port in Mayport, Fla., and released his ashes somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Obama ordered flags around the United States to fly at half-staff on the day of the funeral. 
 
 In 2015, the Smithsonian Institution revealed that Armstrong had kept aside a cloth bag full of small parts from the lunar module Eagle, which lay undiscovered for decades until his widow Carol found it. While Armstrong made no mention of this bag in decades of interviews, the bag was discussed a few times during the mission itself. 
 
 It is unknown how Armstrong ultimately gained possession in the bag, but it was common during the Apollo years for astronauts to retain souvenirs of their flights. (A month after Armstrong's death, Obama made legal a bill to allow Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts to retain legal title to these mementos.) Former "Mythbusters" host Adam Savage subsequently created a carry bag based on the design of Armstrong's "purse"; the design was actually used in several Apollo missions before and after Apollo 11. 
 
 The Columbia spacecraft was on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., between 1976 and 2016 in the museum's main hall. Then, the famous spacecraft was removed for restoration at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, the annex to museum. Meanwhile, the main hall was renovated and a new "Destination Moon" gallery began construction, with intentions to redisplay Columbia there when it re-opens. The spacecraft itself is currently on tour, reaching locations in Houston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Seattle. It will be at the Museum of Flight in Seattle for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission in July 2019. 
 
 In a 2013 BBC documentary, Armstrong's brother Dean said that he knew of the famous first words on the moon several months before Apollo 11 touched down. Dean reported that Armstrong passed him a handwritten note as the brothers played a late-night game of Risk, according to British newspaper the Telegraph. However, Dean's remarks contradicted many statements by Armstrong himself, who said that the words didn't come to him until he arrived on the moon. The other Apollo 11 astronauts have also backed up Armstrong's assertions. 
 
 In 2017, a rare gold lunar model was stolen from the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. "Entry to the museum was discovered and taken was a solid gold replica of the 1969 Lunar Excursion Module that landed on the moon," Russel Hunlock, Wapakoneta police chief, stated in a release. "The piece is very rare as it was presented to Neil Armstrong in Paris, France, shortly after the moon landing." 
 
 A Neil Armstrong biography will come to theaters in 2018. The movie is based upon the James R. Hansen book "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" and will star actor Ryan Gosling. 
 
 Additional reporting by Space.com staff ||||| Neil Armstrong was a quiet, self-described "nerdy" engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved U.S. pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with the first step on the moon. The modest man who entranced and awed people on Earth has died. He was 82. 
 
 FILE - In this May 12 ,2012 file photo, former astronaut Neil Armstrong testifies before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on NASA's proposed budget and the future... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, file photo provided by NASA, Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong speaks at a celebration dinner honoring John Glenn in Columbus, Ohio. The family of Neil Armstrong,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this 1969 photo provided by NASA the crew of the Apollo 11 mission is seen. From left are Neil Armstrong, Mission Commander, Michael Collins, Lt. Col. USAF, and Edwin Eugene Aldrin, also known... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this July 16, 1969 file photo, Neil Armstrong waving in front, heads for the van that will take the crew to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida.... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this March 9, 1966 file photo, Astronaut Neil Armstrong is seated during a suiting up exercise Cape Kennedy, Florida, in preparation for the Gemini 8 flight. The family of Neil Armstrong, the... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA shows Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface.... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In undated photo provided by NASA shows Neil Armstrong. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following... (Associated Press) 
 
 Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, a statement from his family said Saturday. It didn't say where or when he died. 
 
 Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th century's scientific expeditions. His first words after setting foot on the surface are etched in history books and in the memories of those who heard them in a live broadcast. 
 
 "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said. 
 
 In those first few moments on the moon, during the climax of a heated space race with the then-Soviet Union, Armstrong stopped in what he called "a tender moment" and left a patch to commemorate NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in action. 
 
 "It was special and memorable, but it was only instantaneous because there was work to do," Armstrong told an Australian television interviewer this year. 
 
 Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the lunar surface, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. 
 
 "The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I had ever been exposed to," Armstrong once said. 
 
 The moonwalk marked America's victory in the Cold War space race that began Oct. 4, 1957, with the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1, a satellite that sent shock waves around the world. 
 
 An estimated 600 million people _ a fifth of the world's population _ watched and listened to the moon landing, the largest audience for any single event in history. 
 
 Parents huddled with their children in front of the family television, mesmerized. Farmers abandoned their nightly milking duties, and motorists pulled off the highway and checked into motels just to watch on TV. 
 
 The U.S. space agency tweeted Saturday, "NASA offers its condolences on today's passing of Neil Armstrong, former test pilot, astronaut & the 1st man on the moon. Neil was 82." 
 
 Although he had been a Navy fighter pilot, a test pilot for NASA's forerunner and an astronaut, Armstrong never allowed himself to be caught up in the celebrity and glamour of the space program. 
 
 "I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer," he said in February 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. "And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession." 
 
 A man who kept away from cameras, Armstrong went public in 2010 with his concerns about President Barack Obama's space policy that shifted attention away from a return to the moon and emphasized private companies developing spaceships. He testified before Congress, and in an email to The Associated Press he said he had "substantial reservations." 
 
 Armstrong's modesty and self-effacing manner never faded. 
 
 When he appeared in Dayton, Ohio, in 2003 to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight, he bounded onto a stage before 10,000 people. But he spoke for only a few seconds, did not mention the moon and quickly ducked out of the spotlight. 
 
 He later joined former astronaut and Sen. John Glenn to lay wreaths on the graves of airplane inventors Wilbur and Orville Wright. Glenn introduced Armstrong and noted it was 34 years to the day that Armstrong had walked on the moon. 
 
 "Thank you, John. Thirty-four years?" Armstrong quipped, as if he hadn't given it a thought. 
 
 At another joint appearance, the two embraced and Glenn commented: "To this day, he's the one person on Earth, I'm truly, truly envious of." 
 
 Armstrong's moonwalk capped a series of accomplishments that included piloting the X-15 rocket plane and making the first space docking during the Gemini 8 mission, which included a successful emergency splashdown. 
 
 In the years afterward, Armstrong retreated to the quiet of the classroom and his Ohio farm. Aldrin said in his book "Men from Earth" that Armstrong was one of the quietest, most private men he had ever met. 
 
 In the Australian interview, Armstrong acknowledged that "now and then I miss the excitement about being in the cockpit of an airplane and doing new things." 
 
 At the time of the flight's 40th anniversary, Armstrong again was low-key, telling a gathering that the space race was "the ultimate peaceful competition: USA versus U.S.S.R. It did allow both sides to take the high road, with the objectives of science and learning and exploration." 
 
 Glenn, who went through jungle training in Panama with Armstrong as part of the astronaut program, described him as "exceptionally brilliant" with technical matters but "rather retiring, doesn't like to be thrust into the limelight much." 
 
 Derek Elliott, curator of the Smithsonian Institution's U.S. Air and Space Museum from 1982 to 1992, said the moonwalk probably marked the high point of space exploration. 
 
 "The fact that we were able to see it and be a part of it means that we are in our own way witnesses to history," he said. 
 
 The 1969 landing met an audacious deadline that President John F. Kennedy had set in May 1961, shortly after Alan Shepard became the first American in space with a 15-minute suborbital flight. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin had orbited the Earth and beaten the U.S. into space the previous month. 
 
 "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth," Kennedy had said. "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important to the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." 
 
 The end-of-decade goal was met with more than five months to spare. "Houston: Tranquility Base here," Armstrong radioed after the spacecraft settled onto the moon. "The Eagle has landed." 
 
 "Roger, Tranquility," the Houston staffer radioed back. "We copy you on the ground. You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot." 
 
 The third astronaut on the mission, Michael Collins, circled the moon in the mother ship Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin went to the moon's surface. 
 
 In all, 12 American astronauts walked on the moon between 1969 and the last moon mission in 1972. 
 
 For Americans, reaching the moon provided uplift and respite from the Vietnam War. The landing occurred as organizers were preparing for Woodstock, the legendary rock festival on a farm in New York. 
 
 Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, on a farm in Ohio. He took his first airplane ride at age 6 and developed a fascination with aviation that prompted him to build model airplanes and conduct experiments in a homemade wind tunnel. He was licensed to fly at 16, before he got his driver's license. 
 
 Armstrong enrolled in Purdue University to study aeronautical engineering but was called to duty with the U.S. Navy in 1949 and flew 78 combat missions in Korea. After the war, Armstrong finished his degree and later earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He became a test pilot with what evolved into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, flying more than 200 kinds of aircraft from gliders to jets. 
 
 Armstrong was accepted into NASA's second astronaut class in 1962 _ the first, including Glenn, was chosen in 1959 _ and commanded the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. After the first space docking, he brought the capsule back in an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean when a wildly firing thruster kicked it out of orbit. 
 
 Armstrong was backup commander for the historic Apollo 8 mission at Christmastime in 1968. In that flight, Commander Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell and Bill Anders circled the moon 10 times, and paving the way for the lunar landing seven months later. 
 
 Aldrin said he and Armstrong were not prone to free exchanges of sentiment. 
 
 "But there was that moment on the moon, a brief moment, in which we sort of looked at each other and slapped each other on the shoulder ... and said, `We made it. Good show,' or something like that," Aldrin said. 
 
 In Wapakoneta, media and souvenir frenzy was swirling around the home of Armstrong's parents. 
 
 "You couldn't see the house for the news media," recalled John Zwez, former manager of the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum. "People were pulling grass out of their front yard." 
 
 Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were given ticker tape parades in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and later made a 22-nation world tour. A homecoming in Wapakoneta drew 50,000 people to the city of 9,000. 
 
 In 1970, Armstrong was appointed deputy associate administrator for aeronautics at NASA but left the following year to teach aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. 
 
 He remained there until 1979 and during that time bought a farm, where he raised cattle and corn. He stayed out of public view, accepting few requests for interviews or speeches. 
 
 "He didn't give interviews, but he wasn't a strange person or hard to talk to," said Ron Huston, a colleague at the University of Cincinnati. "He just didn't like being a novelty." 
 
 In February 2000, when he agreed to announce the top 20 engineering achievements of the 20th century as voted by the National Academy of Engineering, Armstrong said there was one disappointment relating to his moonwalk. 
 
 "I can honestly say _ and it's a big surprise to me _ that I have never had a dream about being on the moon," he said. 
 
 Armstrong married Carol Knight in 1999. He had two adult sons from a previous marriage. 
 
 His family's statement Saturday made a simple request for anyone who wanted to remember him: 
 
 "Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Borenstein reported from Washington. ||||| Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who marked an epochal achievement in exploration with “one small step” from the Apollo 11 lunar module on July 20, 1969, becoming the first person to walk on the moon, died Aug. 25 in the Cincinnati area. He was 82. 
 
 His family announced the death in a statement and attributed it to “complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.” 
 
 A taciturn engineer and test pilot who was never at ease with his fame, Mr. Armstrong was among the most heroized Americans of the 1960s Cold War space race. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” he is famous for saying as he stepped on the moon, an indelible quotation beamed to a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions. 
 
 Twelve years after the Soviet satellite Sputnik reached space first, deeply alarming U.S. officials, and after President John F. Kennedy in 1961 declared it a national priority to land an American on the moon “before this decade is out,” Mr. Armstrong, a former Navy fighter pilot, commanded the NASA crew that finished the job. 
 
 His trip to the moon — particularly the hair-raising final descent from lunar orbit to the treacherous surface — was history’s boldest feat of aviation. Yet what the experience meant to him, what he thought of it all on an emotional level, he mostly kept to himself. 
 
 Like his boyhood idol, transatlantic aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, Mr. Armstrong learned how uncomfortable the intrusion of global acclaim can be. And just as Lindbergh had done, he eventually shied away from the public and avoided the popular media. 
 
 In time, he became almost mythical. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong was “exceedingly circumspect” from a young age, and the glare of international attention “just deepened a personality trait that he already had in spades,” said his authorized biographer, James R. Hansen, a former NASA historian. 
 
 In an interview, Hansen, author of “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong,” cited another “special sensitivity” that made the first man on the moon a stranger on Earth. 
 
 “I think Neil knew that this glorious thing he helped achieve for the country back in the summer of 1969 — glorious for the entire planet, really — would inexorably be diminished by the blatant commercialism of the modern world,” Hansen said. 
 
 “And I think it’s a nobility of his character that he just would not take part in that.” 
 
 A love of flying 
 
 The perilous, 195-hour journey that defined Mr. Armstrong’s place in history — from the liftoff of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, to the capsule’s splashdown in the Pacific eight days later — riveted the world’s attention, transcending cultural, political and generational divides in an era of profound social tumult and change in the United States. 
 
 As Mr. Armstrong, a civilian, and his crewmates, Air Force pilots Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins, hurtled through space, television viewers around the globe witnessed a drama of spellbinding technology and daring. About a half-billion people listened to the climactic landing and watched a flickering video feed of the moonwalk. 
 
 At center stage, cool and focused, was a pragmatic, 38-year-old astronaut who would let social critics and spiritual wise men dither over the larger meaning of his voyage. When Mr. Armstrong occasionally spoke publicly about the mission in later decades, he usually did so dryly, his recollections mainly operational. 
 
 “I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer,” he said at a millennial gathering honoring the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. Unlike Aldrin and Collins, Mr. Armstrong never published a memoir. 
 
 After flying experimental rocket planes in the 1950s at Edwards Air Force Base in California — the high-desert realm of daredevil test pilots later celebrated in author Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff” — Mr. Armstrong was selected for NASA’s astronaut corps in 1962 and became the first U.S. civilian to be blasted into space. 
 
 In 1966, during his only spaceflight other than Apollo 11, a life-threatening malfunction of his Gemini 8 vehicle caused the craft to tumble out of control in Earth orbit. It was the nation’s first potentially fatal crisis in space, prompting Mr. Armstrong and his crewmate to abort their mission and carry out NASA’s first emergency reentry. 
 
 His skill and composure were put to no greater test, though, than in the anxious minutes starting at 4:05 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, July 20, 1969. That was when the lunar module carrying Mr. Armstrong and Aldrin, having separated from the Apollo 11 capsule, began its hazardous, nine-mile final descent to the moon’s Sea of Tranquility. 
 
 Collins, waiting in lunar orbit, could only hope that the two would make it back. 
 
 The lunar module, or LM (pronounced lem), was dubbed “Eagle.” Its 1969 computer, overtaxed during the descent and flashing alarm lights as it fell behind on its work, guided the spiderlike craft most of the way to the surface. 
 
 In the last few thousand feet, however, Mr. Armstrong, looking out a window, saw that the computer had piloted Eagle beyond its targeted landing spot. The craft was headed for a massive crater surrounded by boulders as big as cars. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong, as planned, took manual control of the LM at 500 feet. Standing in the cramped cockpit, piloting with a control stick and toggle switch, he maneuvered past the crater while scanning the rugged moonscape for a place to safely put down. 
 
 Although the world remembers him best for walking on the moon, Mr. Armstrong recalled his time on the surface as anticlimactic, “something we looked on as reasonably safe and predictable.” Flying the LM was “by far the most difficult and challenging part” of the mission, he told a group of youngsters in a 2007 e-mail exchange. 
 
 The “very high risk” descent was “extremely complex,” he wrote, and guiding the craft gave him a “feeling of elation.” 
 
 “Pilots take no particular joy in walking,” he once remarked. “Pilots like flying.” 
 
 ‘One giant leap’ 
 
 As he and Aldrin kept descending, balanced on a cone of fire 240,000 miles from Earth, the LM’s roaring engine kicked up a fog of moon dust, distorting Mr. Armstrong’s depth perception and clouding his view of the surface. 
 
 Meanwhile, the descent engine’s fuel — separate from the fuel that would later power the ascent engine on their departure from the moon — dwindled to a critical level. 
 
 “Quantity light,” Aldrin warned at just under 100 feet. This meant that Mr. Armstrong, according to NASA’s instruments, had less than two minutes to ease the LM to the surface or he would have faced a frightful dilemma. 
 
 He would have had to abort the descent, ending the mission in failure at a cost of immense national prestige and treasure, or he would have had to risk a sort of crash landing after the fuel ran out — letting the LM fall in lunar gravity the rest of the way down, hoping the slow-motion plunge wouldn’t badly damage it. 
 
 Finally, with 50 seconds to spare, the world heard Aldrin say, “Contact light,” and Eagle’s landing gear settled on the lunar soil. Their precarious, 12-minute descent into the unknown left Mr. Armstrong’s pulse pounding at twice the normal rate. 
 
 Humanity listened, transfixed. “Houston, Tranquility base here,” Mr. Armstrong reported. “The Eagle has landed.” The response from mission control was filled with relief: “Roger, Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.” 
 
 About 61 / 2 hours later, Mr. Armstrong, soon to be followed by Aldrin, climbed down the ladder outside the LM’s hatch as a television camera mounted on the craft transmitted his shadowy, black-and-white image to hundreds of millions of viewers. 
 
 How Mr. Armstrong wound up commanding the historic flight had to do with his abilities and experience, plus a measure of good fortune. 
 
 Months earlier, when he had been named Apollo 11 commander, NASA envisioned his mission as the first lunar landing — yet no one could be sure. Three other Apollo flights had to finish preparing the way. If any of them had failed, Apollo 11 would have had to pick up the slack, leaving the momentous first landing to a later crew. 
 
 Why the space agency chose Mr. Armstrong, not Aldrin, for the famous first step out of the LM had to do with the two men’s personalities. 
 
 Publicly, NASA said the first-step decision was a technical one dictated by where the astronauts would be positioned in the LM’s small cockpit. But in his 2001 autobiography, Christopher C. Kraft Jr., a top NASA flight official, confirmed the true reason. 
 
 Aldrin, who would struggle with alcoholism and depression after his astronaut career, was overtly opinionated and ambitious, making it clear within NASA why he thought he should be first. “Did we think Buzz was the man who would be our best representative to the world, the man who would be legend?” Kraft recalled. “We didn’t.” 
 
 The stoic Mr. Armstrong, on the other hand, quietly held to his belief that the descent and landing, not the moonwalk, would be the mission’s signature achievement. And it didn’t matter to him whether the Earthbound masses thought differently. 
 
 “Neil Armstrong, reticent, soft-spoken and heroic, was our only choice,” Kraft said. 
 
 As for his famous statement upon stepping off the ladder, Mr. Armstrong said he didn’t dwell on it much beforehand, that the idea came to him only after the landing. 
 
 He would always maintain that he had planned to say “a man.” Whether the “a” was lost in transmission or Mr. Armstrong misspoke has never been fully resolved. As his boots touched the lunar surface at 10:56:15 p.m. Eastern, the world heard: 
 
 “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” 
 
 Ever the precise engineer, Mr. Armstrong later said that if it were up to him, history would record his immortal words with an “a” inserted in parentheses. 
 
 The ultimate mission 
 
 Neil Alden Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, outside the little farming town of Wapakoneta in western Ohio. From the morning in 1936 when his father, an auditor of county records, let him skip Sunday school so the two could go aloft in a barnstorming Ford Trimotor plane near their home, the boy was hooked on aviation. 
 
 He got his pilot’s license on his 16th birthday, before he was legally old enough to go solo in an automobile. 
 
 After a few semesters at Purdue University, he left for Navy flight training in 1949, eventually becoming the youngest pilot in his fighter squadron on the aircraft carrier USS Essex. He flew 78 combat missions in the Korean War and was shot down once before his tour of duty ended and he went back to Purdue. 
 
 After earning an aeronautical engineering degree in 1955, he joined NASA’s forerunner, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and was soon rocketing in the stratosphere, pushing the boundaries of aviation in ­missilelike research planes. 
 
 In 1959, at the beginning of the Mercury project, which would soon blast the first American into space, NASA chose its storied “original seven” astronauts from the ranks of active-duty military fliers. Mr. Armstrong, who was less than enthusiastic about the program, remained at Edwards as a civilian test pilot. 
 
 Then, in 1962, his 2-year-old daughter, Karen, died of brain cancer. Mr. Armstrong’s grief “caused him to invest [his] energies in something very positive,” his sister recalled in an interview with Hansen. “That’s when he started into the space program.” 
 
 Not long after Karen’s death, when NASA recruited its second group of astronauts, about 250 test pilots applied, and Mr. Armstrong was among the nine who made the cut. Most took part in the Earth- 
 
 orbiting Gemini missions of the mid-1960s, refining flight procedures that would be needed later in the moon-bound Apollo program. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong’s harrowing Gemini 8 flight, in March 1966, was aborted hours into its three-day schedule after the spacecraft began toppling end-over-end, pinwheeling so violently that Mr. Armstrong, the commander, and crewmate David Scott were in danger of blacking out, which almost surely would have been fatal. 
 
 A malfunctioning thruster was the culprit. “I gotta cage my eyeballs,” Mr. Armstrong remarked, deadpan, as he and Scott, their vision blurred, struggled to cut short their flight. NASA officials were impressed by Mr. Armstrong’s handling of the crisis, and three years later they entrusted him with command of the ultimate mission. 
 
 A very private life 
 
 After weeks of hoopla surrounding Apollo 11’s return — a ticker-tape parade, a presidential dinner, a 28-city global goodwill tour — Mr. Armstrong worked in NASA management for two years, then joined the University of Cincinnati’s engineering faculty. 
 
 “We were not naive, but we could not have guessed what the volume and intensity of public interest would turn out to be,” he said of his worldwide celebrity. 
 
 Over the ensuing decades, Mr. Armstrong, a solitary figure, warded off reporters’ efforts to penetrate his privacy until most gave up or lost interest. Unhappy with faculty unionism, he resigned from the university in 1979 and spent the rest of his working life in business, amassing personal wealth as an investor and a member of corporate boards. 
 
 Although he was loath to exploit his fame, Mr. Armstrong signed on as a pitchman for Chrysler in his waning months as a professor, appearing in ads for the nearly bankrupt automaker, including one that aired during the Super Bowl in January 1979. 
 
 He said he agreed to the deal mainly because it involved an engineering consultancy and because he wanted to help a beleaguered U.S. company buffeted by imports and rising foreign oil prices. The arrangement was short-lived, however, and afterward Mr. Armstrong repeatedly turned down opportunities to endorse products. 
 
 Hansen, now an aerospace historian at Auburn University, said Mr. Armstrong felt awkward taking credit for the collective success of 400,000 employees of the space agency and its Apollo contractors. In 2003, Hansen recorded 55 hours of interviews with Mr. Armstrong after years of coaxing him to cooperate on a biography. 
 
 He was not a recluse, as some labeled him. In 1986, for instance, he was vice chairman of the commission that investigated the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. 
 
 But that was a rare step into the spotlight. As a rule, Mr. Armstrong was extremely choosey about his public appearances, limiting them mostly to aerospace-related commemorative events and to other usually low-key gatherings that piqued his interest, such as meetings of scientific and technical societies. 
 
 “The lunar Lindbergh,” he was dubbed for his refusal to grant interviews to journalists. His remoteness also irked some NASA officials, who had vainly hoped that Mr. Armstrong would become a forceful public advocate for the funding of space exploration. 
 
 “How long must it take before I can cease to be known as a spaceman?” he once pleaded. Yet by the time he retired in 2002, to leisurely travel and enjoy his grandchildren, the “First Man” finally had outlived the nation’s fascination with him, and he could often walk down a street in blissful anonymity. 
 
 His 38-year marriage to the former Janet Shearon ended in divorce in 1994. Later that year, he married Carol Knight, a widowed mother of two teenagers. Besides his wife, survivors include two sons from his first marriage, Eric and Mark; two stepchildren; a brother; a sister; and 10 grandchildren. 
 
 “Looking back, we were really very privileged to live in that thin slice of history where we changed how man looks at himself, and what he might become, and where he might go,” Mr. Armstrong said in a 2001 NASA oral history project. “So I’m very thankful.” ||||| Neil Armstrong, 1st man on the moon, dies 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Photo: Cliff Owen, Associated Press Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Image 1 of 19 | American Hero Dies In this May 12 ,2012 file photo, former astronaut Neil Armstrong testifies before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on NASA's proposed budget and the future of the manned space flight program on Capitol Hill in Washington. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. less In this May 12 ,2012 file photo, former astronaut Neil Armstrong testifies before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on NASA's proposed budget and the future of the manned ... more Photo: Cliff Owen, Associated Press Image 2 of 19 | American Hero Dies Former astronaut Neil Armstrong speaks during a ceremony at the graves and memorial of Orville and Wilbur Wright Sunday, July 20, 2003, at Woodland Cemetery, in Dayton, Ohio. Former astronaut Neil Armstrong speaks during a ceremony at the graves and memorial of Orville and Wilbur Wright Sunday, July 20, 2003, at Woodland Cemetery, in Dayton, Ohio. Photo: DAVID KOHL, AP Image 3 of 19 | American Hero Dies Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong steps down from the lunar module lander and becomes the first man to set foot on the moon July 20,1969. A huge shadow of the Lunar module is cast on the moon's surface. Photo was made from 16mm color film made with a Mauer camera at 6 and 12 frames per second. (AP Photo/NASA) less Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong steps down from the lunar module lander and becomes the first man to set foot on the moon July 20,1969. A huge shadow of the Lunar module is cast on the moon's surface. Photo ... more Photo: Associated Press Image 4 of 19 | American Hero Dies This undated image obtained from NASA shows Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo ll mission commander, at the Lunar Module "Eagle" on the historic first extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. took the photograph with a Hasselblad 70mm camera. This is one of only a few that show Neil Armstrong (some of these are blurry). Armstrong has died, US media reported August 25, 2012. He was 82. Armstrong underwent cardiac bypass surgery, earlier this month after doctors found blockages in his coronary arteries. He and fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, before the eyes of hundreds of millions of awed television viewers worldwide. less This undated image obtained from NASA shows Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo ll mission commander, at the Lunar Module "Eagle" on the historic first extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. ... more Photo: -, AFP/Getty Images Image 5 of 19 | American Hero Dies Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, (L), and Edwin E. Aldrin, plant the U.S. flag on the surface of the moon during their extravehicular activity. This picture taken from 16mm color movie film from a remote camera inside the lunar module shooting a 1 frame per second. less Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, (L), and Edwin E. Aldrin, plant the U.S. flag on the surface of the moon during their extravehicular activity. This picture taken from 16mm color movie film from a remote ... more Photo: NASA Via AP, AP Image 6 of 19 | American Hero Dies A copy of a voice print of Neil Armstrong's firs words spoken from the moon. Image copied from the Control Bionics website http://www.controlbionics.com/cb_one_small_a.htm A copy of a voice print of Neil Armstrong's firs words spoken from the moon. Image copied from the Control Bionics website http://www.controlbionics.com/cb_one_small_a.htm Photo: Control Bionics Image 7 of 19 | American Hero Dies President Nixon views the Apollo 11 astronauts in the isolation unit aboard the USS Hornet after splashdown and recovery, in this July 24, 1969 file photo. July 20, 1999 marks the 30th anniversary of the landing on the moon by the Apollo II crew. The Astronauts, left to right, are: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin A. Aldrin. less President Nixon views the Apollo 11 astronauts in the isolation unit aboard the USS Hornet after splashdown and recovery, in this July 24, 1969 file photo. July 20, 1999 marks the 30th anniversary of the ... more Photo: AP Image 8 of 19 | American Hero Dies ThinkFilm provided this photo of (left to right) Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin after the July, 1969 Apollo 11 mission from "In the Shadow of the Moon." ThinkFilm provided this photo of (left to right) Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin after the July, 1969 Apollo 11 mission from "In the Shadow of the Moon." Photo: AP Image 9 of 19 FILE - In this July 24, 1969 file photo, President Richard Nixon, back to camera, greets the Apollo 11 astronauts in the quarantine van on board the U.S.S. Hornet after splashdown and recovery. The Apollo 11 crew from left: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. less FILE - In this July 24, 1969 file photo, President Richard Nixon, back to camera, greets the Apollo 11 astronauts in the quarantine van on board the U.S.S. Hornet after splashdown and recovery. The Apollo 11 ... more Photo: AP Image 10 of 19 | American Hero Dies In this Sept. 17, 1962 file photo, Neil Armstrong, one of the nine astronauts, is shown as he was introduced to the press, along with the other astronauts in Houston. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. less In this Sept. 17, 1962 file photo, Neil Armstrong, one of the nine astronauts, is shown as he was introduced to the press, along with the other astronauts in Houston. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man ... more Photo: Anonymous, Associated Press Image 11 of 19 | American Hero Dies Neil Armstrong plays the ukulele while his fellow Apollo 11 crewmembers, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. and Michael Collins look through a window of their quarantine chamber at Ellington Air Force Base on July 27, 1969, after their return to earth. The 30th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic mission where Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon will be next week on July 20, 1999. less Neil Armstrong plays the ukulele while his fellow Apollo 11 crewmembers, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. and Michael Collins look through a window of their quarantine chamber at Ellington Air Force Base on July 27, ... more Photo: NASA, NYT Image 12 of 19 | American Hero Dies In this Aug. 13, 1969 file photo, amid ticker tape and American flags, Apollo 11 astronauts wave to welcoming New Yorkers during parade up lower Broadway on Wednesday, in New York. The spacemen, from left, are Michael Collins, Edwin Aldrin, Jr., and Neil A. Armstrong. less In this Aug. 13, 1969 file photo, amid ticker tape and American flags, Apollo 11 astronauts wave to welcoming New Yorkers during parade up lower Broadway on Wednesday, in New York. The spacemen, from left, are ... more Photo: Eddie Adams, AP Image 13 of 19 | American Hero Dies Main Street Houston - Astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, waves to Houstonians who came by the thousands August 16, 1969 to cheer the Apollo 11 astronauts, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins after their historic moon landing in July. less Main Street Houston - Astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, waves to Houstonians who came by the thousands August 16, 1969 to cheer the Apollo 11 astronauts, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins after ... more Photo: JIM COKER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE Image 14 of 19 | American Hero Dies POST Apollo 11 ticker tape parade in downtown Houston. Apollo 11 Astronauts (R-L) Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins parade through downtown Houston in August 16, 1969. POST Apollo 11 ticker tape parade in downtown Houston. Apollo 11 Astronauts (R-L) Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins parade through downtown Houston in August 16, 1969. Photo: Jerry Click, Houston Chronicle Image 15 of 19 | American Hero Dies An original First Man on the Moon stamp is shown Tuesday, July 20, 1999, at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Stamps such as the one shown are on sale at the museum. Tuesday, on the 30th anniversary of native son Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, the parking lot was full outside the museum that bears his name. Inside, the gift shop was doing a good business in model airplanes, T-shirts and pictures of Armstrong. less An original First Man on the Moon stamp is shown Tuesday, July 20, 1999, at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Stamps such as the one shown are on sale at the museum. Tuesday, on the ... more Photo: NICK SHORT, AP Image 16 of 19 | American Hero Dies Neil Armstrong, center, high-fives fellow Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan after Armstrong banged the Purdue drum during halftime ceremonies of the Purdue-Penn State game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 1999, in West Lafayette, Ind. The festivities honored 18 astronauts who graduated from Purdue. less Neil Armstrong, center, high-fives fellow Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan after Armstrong banged the Purdue drum during halftime ceremonies of the Purdue-Penn State game, Saturday, Oct. 23, 1999, in West ... more Photo: FRANK OLIVER, AP Image 17 of 19 Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, flashes a familiar smile as he answers questions at a news conference at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Friday, July 16, 1999. Armstrong is at the center celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch. less Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, flashes a familiar smile as he answers questions at a news conference at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Friday, July 16, 1999. Armstrong is at the center ... more Photo: PETER COSGROVE, AP Image 18 of 19 Astros opening game against the Chicago Cubs at the Astrodome. (Chronicle / File) Astros opening game against the Chicago Cubs at the Astrodome. (Chronicle / File) Photo: SMILEY N. POOL, Houston Chronicle Image 19 of 19 Neil Armstrong, 1st man on the moon, dies 1 / 19 Back to Gallery 
 
 Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon and a giant of human exploration, has died. He was 82. 
 
 His family said Armstrong died after complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. 
 
 Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, and was the first astronaut to exit the spacecraft. He was followed to the lunar surface by Buzz Aldrin. 
 
 "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said. 
 
 The successful landing - and subsequent return to Earth - capped a hotly contested space race between the United States and the U.S.S.R. during the height of the Cold War, and vindicated President John F. Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon. 
 
 "As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first small step on a world beyond our own," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a prepared statement. "Besides being one of America's greatest explorers, Neil carried himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all. When President Kennedy challenged the nation to send a human to the moon, Neil Armstrong accepted without reservation." 
 
 Armstrong was never quite comfortable with all the fame, he described himself as a "nerdy engineer," but to the end of his life he remained a champion for human spaceflight, appearing before Congress to testify in favor of NASA's keeping a robust manned program. 
 
 "He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits," his family said in a statement. "While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves." 
 
 Armstrong was the face of what is arguably America's top technological triumph, but for those who knew him in the spaceflight community, he quietly led by setting a good example. 
 
 "Neil Armstrong was one of the greatest human beings I have ever known," said Chris Kraft, NASA's first flight director. "He was a great American, a great astronaut, a great teacher, a great pilot and one of my closest friends. We grew up together at the NACA/NASA and were always working toward a better future for aeronautical engineering and space."" 
 
 Armstrong's death on Saturday caught much of the spaceflight community by surprise. 
 
 "The passing of Neil Armstrong has shocked all of us at the Johnson Space Center," said former astronaut Mike Coats, who directs the center. "The whole world knew Neil as the first man to step foot on the Moon, but to us he was a co-worker, a friend, and an outstanding spokesman for the Human Space Program. His quiet confidence and ability to perform under pressure set an example for all subsequent astronauts. Our role model will be missed."Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, on a farm near Wapakoneta in western Ohio. He took his first airplane ride at age 6 and developed a fascination with aviation that prompted him to build model airplanes and conduct experiments in a homemade wind tunnel. 
 
 As a boy, he worked at a pharmacy and took flying lessons. He was licensed to fly at 16, before he got his driver's license. 
 
 Armstrong enrolled in Purdue University to study aeronautical engineering but was called to duty with the U.S. Navy in 1949 and flew 78 combat missions in Korea. 
 
 After the war, Armstrong finished his degree from Purdue and later earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He became a test pilot with what evolved into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, flying more than 200 kinds of aircraft from gliders to jets. 
 
 He was accepted into NASA's second astronaut class in 1962 - the first, including Glenn, was chosen in 1959 - and commanded the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. After the first space docking, he brought the capsule back in an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean when a wildly firing thruster kicked it out of orbit. 
 
 Armstrong was backup commander for the historic Apollo 8 mission at Christmas time in 1968. In that flight, Commander Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell and Bill Anders circled the moon 10 times, and paving the way for the lunar landing seven months later. 
 
 Aldrin said he and Armstrong were not prone to free exchanges of sentiment. 
 
 "But there was that moment on the moon, a brief moment, in which we sort of looked at each other and slapped each other on the shoulder ... and said, 'We made it. Good show,' or something like that," Aldrin said. 
 
 An estimated 600 million people - a fifth of the world's population - watched and listened to the landing, the largest audience for any single event in history. 
 
 Parents huddled with their children in front of the family television, mesmerized by what they were witnessing. Farmers abandoned their nightly milking duties, and motorists pulled off the highway and checked into motels just to see the moonwalk. 
 
 Television-less campers in California ran to their cars to catch the word on the radio. Boy Scouts at a camp in Michigan watched on a generator-powered television supplied by a parent. 
 
 Afterward, people walked out of their homes and gazed at the moon, in awe of what they had just seen. Others peeked through telescopes in hopes of spotting the astronauts. 
 
 In Wapakoneta, media and souvenir frenzy was swirling around the home of Armstrong's parents. 
 
 "You couldn't see the house for the news media," recalled John Zwez, former manager of the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum. "People were pulling grass out of their front yard." 
 
 Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were given ticker tape parades in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and later made a 22-nation world tour. A homecoming in Wapakoneta drew 50,000 people to the city of 9,000. 
 
 In 1970, Armstrong was appointed deputy associate administrator for aeronautics at NASA but left the following year to teach aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. 
 
 He remained there until 1979 and during that time bought a 310-acre farm near Lebanon, where he raised cattle and corn. He stayed out of public view, accepting few requests for interviews or speeches. 
 
 "He didn't give interviews, but he wasn't a strange person or hard to talk to," said Ron Huston, a colleague at the University of Cincinnati. "He just didn't like being a novelty." 
 
 Those who knew him said he enjoyed golfing with friends, was active in the local YMCA and frequently ate lunch at the same restaurant in Lebanon. 
 
 In 2000, when he agreed to announce the top 20 engineering achievements of the 20th century as voted by the National Academy of Engineering, Armstrong said there was one disappointment relating to his moonwalk. 
 
 "I can honestly say - and it's a big surprise to me - that I have never had a dream about being on the moon," he said. 
 
 This report contains material from the Associated Press. 
 
 eric.berger@chron.com ||||| From the White House: "Michelle and I were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Neil Armstrong. 
 
 "Neil was among the greatest of American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time. When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable - that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible. And when Neil stepped foot on the surface of the moon for the first time, he delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten. 
 
 
 
 "Today, Neil's spirit of discovery lives on in all the men and women who have devoted their lives to exploring the unknown - including those who are ensuring that we reach higher and go further in space. That legacy will endure - sparked by a man who taught us the enormous power of one small step."
– A sample of the early coverage/reaction in the wake of Neil Armstrong's death today at age 82: Huffington Post: Its page-leading banner reads, "One Giant Loss for Mankind." Armstrong family: "The next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.” Associated Press: He was a "quiet, self-described 'nerdy' engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved US pilot he made 'one giant leap for mankind' with the first step on the moon." President Obama: "Neil was among the greatest of American heroes—not just of his time, but of all time." Space.com: "A figure so large in American and world history that you can bet many generations from now people will still be talking about him, as well as his moon landing." Houston Chronicle: "Armstrong was the face of what is arguably America's top technological triumph, but for those who knew him in the spaceflight community, he quietly led by setting a good example." Washington Post: He "marked an epochal achievement in exploration with 'one small step'" and thus became one of "the most heroized Americans of the 1960s Cold War space race." The Guardian: Those famous words—"That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind"—still "endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language."