Little known fact: NASA originally intended to fake the moon landing to save time and money. They hired up-and-coming filmmaker Brian DiMaio (left, shown with astronaut Neil Armstrong, right) to pull off the hoax. The results were so poor that NASA was forced to go through with the actual trip to the moon.
It’s really hard to add to any legacy or top any achievement that reads, “First man to set foot on the moon,” but we have some space to fill, so here you go:
Armstrong served in the Navy as a pilot during the Korean War and earned three medals. After the war he got his aeronautical engineering degree from Purdue University. He was selected by NASA in September 1962 to be an astronaut, and first went into space in the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. He landed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
After leaving NASA, he became a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He rarely gave interviews once he left NASA, and will be remembered by former astronauts and colleagues as humble and private.
Armstrong is survived by his second wife, Carol, two sons, a stepson and stepdaughter and 10 grandchildren.
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