Olivia Cavallaro Science 08.05.2022 06:Aug AM EDT

Neil Armstrong Birth Anniversary: 5 Things You Didn't Know About the First Man to Set Foot on the Moon

The astronaut and aeronautical engineer did more than just make the historic first steps of mankind on the moon.

There is much more to be known about Neil Alden Armstrong, the American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who is best known as the first man to set foot on the moon. While it may be the biggest achievement he is known all over the world for, Armstrong has in fact achieved many other feats that sets him apart from others that came before and after him.

Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio, to Viola Louise Engel and Stephen Koenig Armstrong, a state auditor. He was the eldest of three children and had two siblings, a younger sister named June and a younger brother named Dean.

At an early age, Armstrong developed a fascination for aviation and flight, even taking his first plane ride at just six years old. On his 16th birthday,he became a licensed pilot and in 1947, he became a naval air cadet. He went on to pursue aeronautical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

It was then when Armstrong would begin equipping himself for the most important mission of his life as the first man to set foot on the moon. Here are five more things many do not know about Neil Armstrong, the decorated astronaut whose name will forever be in the history books.

1. Neil Armstrong served in the Korean War.

The Korean war elevated into international proportions when in June 1950, North Korea was backed by the Soviet Union in invading the South. When the US came to the defense of the South, Armstrong was called to serve, Britannica reported. Armstrong then flew 78 combat missions for the Navy during the war, in which he was shot down once.He was later awarded three Air Medals.

2. Armstrong was one of the first astronauts chosen for the Gemini program, which prepared astronauts to eventually reach the moon.

In 1962, Armstrong was chosen to be part of NASA's second group of astronauts to fly on the two-seat Gemini missions to test space technology. Four years later in 1966, he served as command pilot of Gemini 8 alongside David R. Scott and executed the first orbital docking of two spacecraft, attaching their Gemini 8 spacecraft to an unmanned Agena target vehicle.

3. Armstrong manned and gained control of the first serious emergency in space.

Armstrong and Scott encountered an emergency when the thruster on the Gemini 8 spacecraft remained stuck open. As they were being thrown faster than one revolution per second, Armstrong gained control by using the re-entry system thrusters. This event was considered the first serious emergency in space, which caused them to safely splashdown early as the re-entry system was already expended, Space.com reported.

4. Armstrong's work goes beyond space missions.

After a colorful career with NASA, Armstrong resigned in 1971 but never stopped pursuing the aeronautics field. He served as a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati from 1971 to 1979 and moved on to become the chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation Inc. in Charlottesville, Virginia from 1982 to 1992. Armstrong also participated in the Rogers Commission, which was set up by then President Ronald Reagan to determine the cause of the fatal explosion of the Challenger shuttle on January 28, 1986, which took the lives of seven astronauts.

5. The first man to set foot on the moon is decorated by 17 countries.

Armstrong's achievements know no borders, which is why up to 17 countries have recognized his excellent work as the first man to set foot on the moon. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, among many others, as per NASA.