That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

July 20 is "Moon Day" to commemorate man's first moonwalk on July 20, 1969. Those of us who were around way back then remember it well as possibly the most remarkable thing we had seen to date. NASA reported it as being, "… the single greatest technological achievement of all time …"

 

Little-known facts about the first moon landing:

 

* Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the moon with only 30 seconds of fuel remaining.

* The astronauts were on the moon's surface for a total of 21 hours.

* Michael Collins was the astronaut piloting the Command Module "Columbia" which "picked up"     Armstrong and Aldrin after their famous walk.

 

Neil A. Armstrong was a NASA astronaut and the first man on the moon or, more accurately, the first man to set foot on the moon. He is also an accomplished test pilot and 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

Here are some frequently asked questions about him:

Who is Neil Armstrong? He is best known as being the first man to step on the moon (fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin arrived at the moon at the same time, but was the second man to actually set foot on the lunar surface). Since Armstrong was the mission’s pilot, it’s also said that he was the first person to land a craft on the moon.

 

Where is Neil Armstrong from? He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. His parents were Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel.

 

What mission did Armstrong fly to the moon? Apollo 11 was the name of the first manned lunar landing mission.

 

When was the first moon landing? Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. That was more than eight years after President John F. Kennedy gave his historic speech in which he said, “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

 

Who was the first person in space? Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth on April 12, 1961, giving the Soviet Union a big victory in its Cold War space race against the United States.

Other facts in the history of Armstrong’s career:

• Armstrong was a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952. He served in the Korean War.
• Well before he made spaceflight history, Armstronggot a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1955 (later, 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.
• Armstrong was the pilot of the Gemini 8 mission, launched March 16, 1966. He performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space (Gemini 8 docked with a previously launched Agena rocket).
• After his time as an astronaut, Armstrong was Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA Headquarters.
• From 1971-1979, he was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati.
• From 1982-1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Charlottesville, Va.