Neil Armstrong was born on August 5th, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. At the age of 14 he began to take flying lessons and on his 16th birthday he got his pilot’s license. After he finished high school in 1947, Armstrong entered Purdue University to study aircraft engineering as an air cadet in the U.S Navy where soon after in 1950 with the start of the Korean War he was called to active service. He flew …show more content…
Armstrong returned to his university to complete his studies and received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering. In 1955, Armstrong became a civilian research pilot and for seven years he tested some of the fastest aircraft ever built; then in 1962 after being inspired by President Kennedy, he volunteered to train as an astronaut and was accepted. Armstrong was the command pilot of the Gemini 8 mission that performed the first docking in space and the commander of the history-making Apollo 11 moon landing mission where he was the first man to step on the moon. Following his achievements as a U.S astronaut, Armstrong remained with NASA until 1971 serving as deputy associate administrator for aeronautics. He then joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati as a professor of aerospace